A Confession...

Okay – I’ll admit it. I am a pen fanatic. I’ve always been pleased to receive a Staples or Office Max gift card for Christmas or for Mother’s Day. That ranks right up there with an AC Moore or Joann’s gift card. I have 27,456 pens. Alright, I'm exaggerating. But it does seem that way. Right now, on my desk at work, I have 3 mugs full of pens. One mug is filled with pens that I let other people use. Stick pens from Bic, and other nondescript pens that I won’t mind losing if they "sprout legs" and walk off. Then I keep a mug full of novelty pens. I have a shark, Buzz Lightyear and Woody, a deer carved out of wood with a pen insert, and a snowman topper on a pen. I have a lipstick pen that I received from a kind Crochetville member (thanks!) and a floating pen and an ergonomic pen and a pen disguised as an airplane. That one is a memento of my introductory flying lesson a couple of years ago. What fun that was! The third mug is filled with the pens that only I use. I keep them pushed waaaaaaay back out of the way where a visitor to my cubicle can't reach them. They are my favorites and I love the way they write.

I’ve recently rediscovered fountain pens. I last used them in elementary school. They were a requirement for penmanship classes. I recently purchased some Varsity Pilot disposable fountain pens. Surprisingly, they write quite smoothly for a disposable. I then ventured out into some fancier pens (priced at about $8 each – I haven’t gone totally crazy yet). Believe it or not – there are pens out there that, if someone were to walk away with it, you would have cause to charge them with grand larceny.




The pen pictured above? Over $3,000. I'm not kidding. The pen is offered for sale on a website that has pens that cost over 5 grand! The website asks you to e-mail for the prices on those pens, but I have their catalog and have seen it with my own eyes.

Writing with a fountain pen brings back the memories of my childhood, and trying my best to write as neatly as possible. People have always said “You must have gone to Catholic school". And it's true. The sisters were sticklers for neat homework. It's a shame that good penmanship isn't important these days. Trust me - I've seen job applications and handwritten resumes that are nearly illegible.

It seems that writing with a fountain pen now has brought back the aspiration to make my written words just as lovely as the pen I’m writing with.

On a crochet note – I’ve finished up the Blue Skies and Sunshine afghan. I put my signature border on it and it turned out great! I’m searching feverishly for my next project. I already have the yarn I want to work with – just need a project to match it. Isn’t that weird? Most people pick a project and then find the yarn.