Tag: Wearingeul

My 2025 Favorites

December 17, 2025

My 2025 Favorites

As I do each year, I’m sharing my current top tens. *screech* Except I’m not. I’ve decided to rename this entry to my favorites of the year. It has nothing to do with my inability to stick to just 10… Really.

My inks list started the departure from my “top 10” format. As you’ll read later, I could either have a top 5 or a top 15. Then I tried to do nibs, and I have so many amazing nibs, I simply couldn’t rank them normally, so I provided my top nib(s) for several categories. And, then, when finishing the pen section, Stanford Pen Studio was 90% of the list, so I decided to give those pens their own list so that other pens would have a chance to shine.

You can also check out my top tens (AKA favorites) from previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021

Now, without further preamble, enjoy my ~~top tens~~ favorites of 2025.

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Ink Battle: Van Dieman’s and Wearingeul

February 7, 2025

Rachel

Ink Battle: Van Dieman’s and Wearingeul

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Van Dieman’s Feline Collection Catnip and Wearingeul Vayu. Both inks are in a pen fitted with an unaltered Jowo #6 Medium nib. The paper is blank Muji loose leaf A5 paper.

For this particular Ink Battle, I’m comparing two ink samples, trying to decide which to purchase. Catnip and Vayu are both seafoam green

Ink Battles Explained

Between myself and Jim buying inks, we own far too many. This means I have some inks that are incredibly similar in color. And, because of that, I need to figure out which inks to keep and which to dispose of. Sometimes, I have samples of two or more similar inks that I'm trying to decide which to buy, or if I should buy one ink when I already own a bottle of a similar one.

Enter ink battles. I put the similar inks into pens with the same nibs (two Jowo #6 M, two TWSBI F, etc.), or I create ink splats and doodles, to test them out to see which I like better. Or, I may find out that they’re sufficiently different to keep.

You can assume I have no problems with any ink that appears in an ink battle. I may find, when using the inks side-by-side, that there are performance differences, but the point of the battle is to choose a favorite ink, a "winner". These choices are often subjective, and you may disagree with me.

An ink battle — unlike ink dupes — is between inks I like. I enjoy using them enough to have them in my "for use" ink collection — as opposed to my repository of inks for testing dupes. If an ink performed poorly or caused problems, I wouldn’t keep it. And, if that were the case, an ink battle would be unnecessary.

Reminder: You can find all of the ink battle posts on the tag page.

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My 2024 Top Tens

December 18, 2024

Rachel

My 2024 Top Tens

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Ink

As I do each year, I’m sharing my current top tens. I’m continuing my approach from 2022 and 2023, with my top ten pens by appearance and top ten nibs. Since I’m keeping to the same format, I’ll compare my lists. This year, though, I’m also adding my top ten inks by usage.

But without further preamble, enjoy my top tens of 2024.

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Ink Battle: Wearingeul and Diamine

June 7, 2024

Rachel

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Ink Battle: Wearingeul and Diamine

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Wearingeul Jane Eyre and Diamine Memory Lane. Both inks are in a pen fitted with a Jowo #6 M nib. The paper is Kokuyo A5 Campus Loose Leaf, plain.

We’re back to a traditional Ink Battle. I own a bottle of both Jane Eyre and Memory Lane. I noticed that they look rather similar and wanted to see how similar. For those unfamiliar with these inks, Memory Lane is a shimmer ink from the 2022 (Green) Inkvent calendar. However, Diamine shimmers settle completely, which I let happen for this battle so I can just compare the colors.

You can assume I have no problems with any ink that appears in an ink battle. The point of the battle is to choose a winner of the two colors. I use a pair of similar inks in pens with the same nib, then test them out to see which I like better. Generally, I’m trying to decide which ink to keep, but sometimes I’m trying to decide which to buy, or if I should buy one ink when I already have a similar one.

I may find out that, when used with the same nib, they’re sufficiently different to own them both. Depending on how these battles turn out, I may tag some of the posts as ink dupes as well. You can find all of the ink battles posts on the tag page.

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