Sailor’s Sailor
Sailor has just released a new special edition ink: Sailor’s Sailor.
From Sailor:
For the past 15 years, Sailor has been actively holding Ink Studio in-shop ink blending events all throughout Japan. These sought after events have always been a success with Japanese consumers lining up to have custom ink colors blended by their famed Sailor ink blender Osamu Ishimaru. To mark Sailor Ink Studio’s 15th year milestone - and to thank their loyal followers - Sailor will be releasing a special commemorative edition bottle ink – the Sailor’s sailor.
First of all, I got slightly lost for a few minutes imagining the life of an ink blender for Sailor. I may have missed my life’s calling, but perhaps it’s not too late to realign priorities. I’ll probably just have to make up for it by lining up in Japan myself for a custom ink.
Secondly, I’ve been looking forward to this ink’s arrival for several months now. They announced it quite a while back. It was supposed to arrive just a bit earlier, but there have been recent delays in production and shipping.
What a beauty! A classic, rich, shading blue. It is wet and flows well and even has a bit of sheen. The writing sample below is with the Sailor Naginata Togi Medium Fine. It’s such a lovely blue, a true fountain pen blue. I think I just find it hard to resist a good solid blue with shading.
It also comes in a nice box.
Jon had brought the ink home yesterday but he comes home around the chaos of dinner and bath time routines, so Caleb (5) helped me fill this pen for the photos this morning. Naomi (2) was disappointed there was only one pen, so she didn’t get a turn to do anything, but mama’s gotta get things done.
I often get concerned comments about how Caleb can fill a pen! Disaster! Is that a gold nib? A Naginata?? To be honest, I have knocked over more bottles of ink than he has, although he still has decades of life in front of him to catch up. I think for most people there is the concern of ink bottles getting tipped over, and also maybe too much strength and cracking something. The biggest concern for me would be if a kid dropped a pen and damaged the nib, which I try to prevent by having a cloth, both for ink drops and also to prevent rolling. That’s all to say that there are concerns!
But kids, my kids, all kids, actually do careful things all the time. They paint, eat soup, feel a flower petal, play Jenga, organize grapes that roll around, balance treats on dog noses. The real concern is probably the very strong dog breath that permeates around us.
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Comments
wonderpens said:
Focus! We are grateful for when it’s there! ;)
Hedy Czuchnicka said:
My God, what a beautiful child! … staring pensively at the fountain pen.
Hedy
wonderpens said:
Yes, I completely agree! Kids have so much energy and enthusiasm, but they also have the capacity for careful concentration. It’s always a balance and an experiment (and trying to mitigate collateral damage). Calligraphy, or even just learning and practising cursive writing, can be incredibly meditative, and I’m so thrilled to hear of these boys accessing a bit of that.
Jenny said:
When I was back in school in China, we learned to use a fountain pen in second grade, and we had calligraphy classes (with sumi ink and brushes and rice paper) starting in third grade. It was an expectation that we can handle these “delicate” tasks as beginner students. Kids are certainly capable of doing the work, but as adults there’s this tendency to assume they are less capable than they really are!
wonderpens said:
How incredible that you had calligraphy lessons in your school, although of course traditional calligraphy in Chinese has a much different cultural and historical role.
And, yes, I completely agree! The kids are always surprising me with what they can do.
janet said:
I really love these glimpses you share of life behind your stationery shop – the discovery of which is a silver lining of the pandemic, as i would not have known of you had i not needed to find some pen refills.
I also admire how you show Caleb filling a fountain pen, and my favourite so far, chopping carrots with a chef’s knife. You seem to be a loving and conscientious parent, who also recognizes your young children’s capabilities to handle tasks like these, given appropriate guidance and instruction.
Please keep the posts coming. My best wishes for meeting the continuing challenges of running a household and a business in these times.
Andrea Kirkby said:
In my experience, children who are given delicate tasks, shown how to do them, and trusted to do them, are generally enthralled. I’ve seen a couple of boisterous six and eight year old boys on day two of a calligraphy course so enthralled by what they were doing that they completely missed the fact everyone else was drinking juice and eating cake… they just carried on, in total silence and concentration.