Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Things We Collect



Fair warning—no knitting content.  It’s been so wild and wooly around here that there has been very little knitting or anything else blog worthy.  So I’m winging it today with some talk about collections.  Do you collect anything?  


From my teen years till today I have rescued worn and broken pens.  My current collection has changed to include antiques and quality writing instruments.  I’ve used fountain pens since I was in high school—it was the curse of my teachers’ lives.  They complained that the ink smeared and had to be handled carefully.   Some of them even refused to let me use a fountain pen.  That was hard because using a pencil was like punishment to me, however, I’ve mellowed a bit over the years and have added a few good pencils to my collection.



My children all know and understand my passion for quality pens and have gifted me with pens, stands and cases for them over the years.   
The three-pen stand was from Fireman son at Christmas.  It is for the three pens that I use daily.  They are all gifts that touched my heart because they are so perfect for me.  On the bottom slot is a Waterman Carene Blue Pearl pen with a medium 24 carat nib, a gift from my cohorts in crime, Linda and Debbie.  The middle pen is a Parker Black Lacquer Sonnet with a broad nib, a gift from my sweet husband, and on top is a Parker Classic, custom made for me with an extra wide nib, a gift from my boss in Chicago.  I usually reach for the Parker Classic in place of a Sharpie. 

My favorite of all the writing instruments I own would be the black lacquer Sonnet—second in the rack.  The oldest is the tortoise shell pencil in the middle of the case.  The pencil has a provenance of 130 years old.  Note: The earliest mechanical pencil was found aboard the wreckage of the HMS Pandora, which sank in 1791.

Thanks for indulging my discussion of my passion for pens.  I have more than I’ve shown so I could go on discussing them for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time.  Lucky you, I’m stopping!  I would love to hear about things you collect!
Life is good.