I started this series a full year ago, wanting to set some intentions for pencil users. You see, we spend so much time talking about the romance and nostalgia of pencils - the way the smell, our childhood favorites, the satisfaction of a freshly sharpened point. But still day after day, week after week, we get the same question: who actually USES pencils?* 

Having just done our yearly reporting, I can confidently say we have thousands of daily pencil users in our midst, people who thrive on the scratch of graphite on paper. There are some for whom pencils are an absolute must - take, for example the wonderful people we've met from the Major Orchestra Librarian's Association who need to make archival, yet erasable marks on sheet music. Or the dental group that's discovered Viarco Copying pencils are the perfect tool to mark wet dental molds. And yet, there are many, many more for whom pencils are a preference - those who reach for a number 2 over any other implement when jotting down notes at work, at home, at school. 

The beautiful thing about pencils and pencil users is that they can be both incredibly special AND incredibly common. It's a symptom of the digital age - when typing is the most usual way to document things, writing by hand is an afterthought, something done with whatever tool is nearest to grab. Pencils are so plentiful and cheap that they are overlooked and discarded as garbage, so when people discover that there's not only a store that sells just pencils, but also a thriving, vibrant community of people who prefer pencils, it seems a bit of a head scratcher at first. What's more, the concept that there's such a thing as a "good" pencil is foreign at best to most people because bad pencils perpetuate schools and stores. CWPE exists because that's simply not so - pencils can be incredible in quality and there can be an art to appreciating them.

And that's where #PencilPrompts came in. I wanted to unite those of us who require more than whatever is in the junk drawer to write with, connect you with concepts and stories and practices that I've learned about from pencil friends that have helped me ignite a new love (and I do find that I fall in love with pencils over and over again) for the tool that consumes my everyday life. Over the year we've discussed, storage, acquisition, extravagance, and everyday use of pencils. Some of you have shared comments, stories, and photos. It's honestly been a rather personal journey for me, and one that I have been thrilled to explore, especially (being perfectly honest with you) as some people are really not nice when I tell them what I do for a living. 

That's the final thought I'd like to leave the year with: there's more to pencils and pencil people than meets the eye. It's an amazing journey to explore the hidden truths behind one of the world's most common objects, and even more amazing to boldly proclaim oneself a Pencil Nerd and to find a community of people who proclaim the same. Get out there and find your perfect pencil and your pencil people. And we'll be here as your support hub along the way. 

*In all honesty, I always make the above Arrested Development joke when people ask who uses pencils. I find it works on a gross** (HAHA) amount of levels. .........A gross is 12 dozen, and the unit we count pencils in, okay? Yeah, I'll stop with the puns. 

Share your #pencilprompt with us on social media: What's your most precious pencil? Why is it special? How did you find it?

In past Pencil Prompts, I've talked a lot about acquiring and using pencils, from pencil SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy) to the pencils you carry with you everyday. Having just spent weeks preparing to move into a new space and discussing the fragility of graphite, I thought I'd switch gears and talk about the pencils we don't use - those that are extra special and acquired with great care (and possibly cash). 

 Living so deep in the pencil world, it's easy to get the FOMOs (Fear Of Missing Out) when a new limited edition comes out, or when we come across a particularly good antique pencil. That also means it's very easy to get carried away and spend all my hard-earned cash trying to acquire each and every wood-cased lovely that comes my way. How to choose? 

Many of the collectors I've met through the Erasable group tend to collect in 3's - one to use, one to keep, and one to trade. I think this is a great model, especially for vintage pencils because if you use them all up, who knows when you'll come across one again? 

Personally, it's about setting limitations on what I collect. It really helps me narrow down my eBay searches and limits the amount of space I need to store my collection. For vintage pencils, I stick with Mongols (some of my collection pictured above) - specifically the 482 (hexagonal) ones, but will take the odd 480 (round) if I can find it. Alyx focuses her deep dives on green writing pencils, like the Mongo Fine Writing, or the Justrite.

The original Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 is, of course, a favorite to collect and admire because of the mythos surrounding the instrument and it's legendary qualities. The rarest - those with a black ferrule with a gold band and a red eraser - are nigh impossible to find and when found, usually up several hundred dollars. 

And that's not even the rarest wood-cased pencil to collect! The Blaisdell Calculator, that made its name in the 1930s for similarly extra smooth, dark graphite like the Blackwing 602, are even harder to locate than a vintage 602 - and just as expensive! 

If you want to get really, really fancy, you could try your luck at locating an original Thoreau pencil. These gems are extremely rare, given they were produced in the late 1800s and well, people have always generally used and disposed of pencils. They're round and unfinished and cost thousands of dollars if you can find them. 

Here's some other easy collection starters: 

• WWII Ferrules - pencils made during WWII had plastic or paper ferrules, making them distinct and easy to spot on a search
• The "Steinbeck Trio" - John Steinbeck was a huge pencil user. His favorite was the Eberhard Faber 602, but he was also known to use a Blaisdell Calculator and a Mongol 480. 
• Stenographer pencils and erasers - In the 1950s, there were a lot of pencil products that were designed for secretaries and stenographers. I, t was trendy to make double-ended pencils for extra fast writing (so you didn't have to sharpen as often). And as typewriters came into fashion, really abrasive eraser pencils were developed for making corrections.

• Blackwing Volumes - in 2015, Palomino started making limited editions of the iconic Blackwing, each with a different theme and story. Some editions are highly sought after (and ridiculously expensive in the after-market), like the natural wood 211s. You can sign up for a subscription with Palomino, buy the pencils by the dozen online, or make trades for singles with other pencil enthusiasts.
• Red school pencils - There were lots of pencil trends back in the 1950s and 60s that companies copied from each other - like the aforementioned green writing pencils that Alyx collects. Jumbo red school pencils were popular as well. Patriotic Semester by Venus was one, J.R. Moon Products Big Dipper was another. I'm terribly fond of Eberhard Faber Third School, too. 

Where do you find rare pencils? Well, there's not a terribly scientific technique to it. We spend a lot of time working with personal collectors, but there's also a ton to be found on eBay. Often, we'll see eBay lots with random pencils group together and one gem tucked in the bunch, so it's good to dig through all the product photos on a listing. Etsy is a good place for this too. 

Another great resource is Bobby Truby's website brandnamepencils.com. His collection is incredible, and he lists product photos of every model of pencil can find. He also has a nice selection of pencils available for sale. 

I've gotten some of my best vintage finds from flea markets and antique stores. I typically go for ones off the beaten path, and dig through the forgotten corners. Oddly enough, I've found quite a few excellent vintage pencils hidden among the antique tools section, buried in with boxes of spark plugs and tape measures. 

And of course, one of the best places to collect pencils is through a community! The Erasable Podcast Pencil Community on Facebook is a good place to start. 

Which pencils are our most precious?

Mine is a 1940s Ronson Penciliter (pictured above). I found it at the Brooklyn Flea, and find it a really quirky example of an long-gone office culture where you'd need both a pencil and a lighter on hand. 

Caroline's is an advertising pencil from her great-grandfather's shop, given to Caroline by her grandmother.

Alyx wonders if it is cheating to pick a bundle of pencils? She keeps all the pencils her parents and my boyfriend have brought her from their travels in a special pouch. All the other pencils in her collection, even the vintage and limited edition ones, feel replaceable in some way. But she'd definitely want to save these souvenirs from her loved ones.

What's yours? 

Raise your hand if you know what a #2 pencil is. 

Great - now, do you know the difference between a #1 and a #2? How about a #3? Do you know their European equivalent? This is easily the most common topic we discuss with customers, given that #2 pencils are so prevalent in the U.S. - so much so that unless you went to art school, you may not have even tried anything beyond a #2. Let's get shady with pencil grades! 

One of the first numerical pencil grading systems was invented by the Thoreau family back in the 1840s, when John and Henry David Thoreau began experimenting with clay and graphite ratios for pencil cores. Their #1 pencil had the most graphite inside, making it the softest and smoothest, while their #4 had the most clay, making it the firmest and most crisp. At the time that the Thoreaus were experimenting with graphite blends, pencil manufacturing was an up and coming industry, so their grading system was picked up by other American manufacturers, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Because the American numerical grading system was limited to 4 pencil grades just within the very middle of the hardness scale, numerical grades became a marketing tool to distinguish writing pencils from drawing pencils (drawing pencils come in up to 22 different grades!). When the American National Bureau of Standards introduced rules in the 1930s about pencil color, erasers and ferrules, the yellow #2 with a pink eraser became a best-selling standard for writing, and that's stuck around through today. 

But why did just the #2 become so prevalent? What about its brethren, the #1, #3 and #4? Well, a #2 pencil represents a fully balanced pencil: the core is equal parts clay and graphite, making it firm enough to keep a sharp point and not smudge too much, but also dark enough to show up nicely. These reasons distinguished the trusty #2 as the best pencil for standardized testing in particular, where visibility and smudge-free writing are super important. 

 Mental Floss: What Makes #2 Pencils So Special? 

Business Insider: Here's what the No. 2 on your Pencil Actually Means

CWPE: How to find your Perfect #2

These days, it's uncommon to come across the full range of numerical graded pencils - you really only see #2s or #1s, or sometimes you'll come across the odd #2 1/2 or #2 5/8s. 

A quick note on fractions - It used to be common to see pencils graded a #2 1/2 or similar fraction. Caroline did extensive research on this for The Pencil Perfect to figure out why each company had its own half-grade hanging out in between #2 and #3 (marking the pencil as just a little firmer than a #2). It turns out that many larger American pencil companies trademarked their fractions so the rest had to get creative. 

So if #2s are the Goldilocks of pencils (just right), why would you even need to try another number? That really depends on your preference and purpose. Here's a quick guide:

• #1 - Soft, generally smoother and darker than a #2. Great for crossword puzzles (i.e. newsprint or magazine paper), musicians, and for extra dark writing needs (such as writing something to scan later). A #1 pencil is equal to a B grade on the European scale. 
• #3 - Firm, crisp, a little light. Great for writing in the margins of books, or anyplace you need to write really small and precise. Also good for people who don't like to sharpen too often. A #3 pencil is equal to an F grade on the European scale (or sometimes an H, depending on the brand)
• #4 - Extra firm, usually a little raspy on paper with a light line. Great for point retention and light outlining or pre-sketching. A #4 is equal to an H on the European scale (or sometimes a 2H)

Speaking of sketching, drawing pencils still more commonly use the European system, where the letters H and B are combined with numbers to describe a pencil's hardness. Drawing pencils can range in grade from 10H to 10B (that's the widest one in the world!). You tend to only need the grades on the broader ends of the spectrum for artistic purposes like shading, but many find that they prefer an extremely soft or an extremely hard pencil over a balanced #2. 

CWPE: Beginner's Guide to Pencils - Pencil Grades

Now that you're in the know about the variety of different strokes for different folks, here's my #PencilPrompt monthly challenge for you: Try a new pencil grade! Move away from the trusty #2 for a while, and see if a softer pencil makes sketching a breeze, or if a firmer pencil gives you the point retention you've been missing in your life. Try a new skill with a new pencil (maybe even on new paper!).

When I first started working for CW, I had originally decided that I prefer a nicely firm pencil, and the Cedar Pointe #2 became my favorite. I rarely stray from its lusciously crisp lines. This month, I'm going to give softer pencils the consideration I've neglected and will be working with a Gekkoso 8B (which super, super soft) as I practice my illustration and penmanship skills. What will you try? 

Some suggestions: 

Extra firm and crisp: 

Edelweiss F 
Kimberly F
Natura 2H
Desenho H=#3
Desenho 2H=#4

Smooth and lightly soft: 

Apsara Absolute
Blackwing Pearl
Test Scoring 580
Supreme #1
Edelweiss 3B

VERY soft, practically butter: 

Gekkoso 8B
Kohitsu Shosha 10B
KM-KKS 6B

Sometimes it seems like we get the question "How do I sharpen this?" more often than we get questions about pencils themselves. The world of sharpeners seems simple on the surface, but there's actually so much to these tools that can be considered, from the type of point a sharpener makes, to the size of pencil it accommodates, to type of sharpening mechanism. As an amateur sharpener collector, I've become quite fond of digging into the history of these objects, one that's littered with a lot of patents and not a lot of stories to go with them. Let's dive in! 

A Brief History of Sharpeners

The first patent for a pencil sharpener was issued in 1828 to Bernard Lassimonne, but it didn't exactly fly off the shelves. Lassimonne's sharpener was super complicated - it involved two metal files, a block of wood and a lot of patience. Up to that point, people already had a simple way to sharpen pencils - a knife. It wasn't until 1847 that a simpler sharpener solution was patented and mass-produced. Theirry des Estivaux developed what's known as a prism sharpener, which is still a very common type of handheld sharpener today. You'll know prism sharpeners as the block or wedge-shaped type, in which you insert a pencil into a angled cone with a blade, and twist it clockwise or counter-clockwise to neatly slice off wood and bring a pencil to a point. 

Of course, though the prism sharpener and linear sharpeners (which are just a modified type of knife, like the Little Shaver or the Pencil Peeler) worked well for personal use, they still required a bit of patience and effort from the user. Hand crank sharpeners were first introduced in the 1880's as a quicker alternative, particularly for office use. These machines used planetary (epicyclic) gears to rotate either the pencil or the sharpening mechanism, sometimes both.  

Hand crank sharpeners have come in many different varieties, using sandpaper, metal files, modified knives, or cylindrical milling cutters. The Gem sharpener, patented in 1886 by Gould & Cook, used gears to rotate both the pencil and a sandpaper disc. The A.B. Dick Planetary Pencil Pointer (say that 5 times fast) was introduced in 1896 - this sharpener held the pencil in a fixed position, while two milling discs rotated around the pencil. A personal favorite of mine, the U.S. Automatic, introduced by American Pencil Sharpening Company (better known as APSCO) in 1906, has a deadly-looking gear made up of three sharp blades that ingeniously rotates the pencil while slicing shavings off. 

It wasn't until 1904 that the spiraled bur that we know in crank sharpeners today was introduced. According to the Early Office Museum (which is an excellent resource for all things office-related!), the Olcott Climax pencil sharpener was the breakthrough for the sharpening world - the design of the blades circling the bur put less pressure on the point of the pencil, and the blades lasted much, much longer than milling discs or single blades. Shortly thereafter, familiar companies like APSCO and Boston introduced their own versions of the Climax, and the rest, well, is history. 

Types of Sharpeners 

There's so many sharpeners out there, it's hard to list them all. Much easier, however, is setting them apart by category. I think you could say there are 4 main types of sharpeners that all can be filed under, and if they can't, they're usually a sort of combination of these types (see note on electric sharpeners). 

1. Linear sharpener/knife: I won't make a huge distinction between linear sharpeners and knives, because they work essentially the same way: you use a sharp blade to manually whittle a pencil to a point. These come in various shapes and sizes, from foldable pocket knife-types, to U-shaped bladed types like the Pencil Peeler. (I'd consider ones with a lever, like the Little Shaver, to be a knife hybrid, as they don't have gears like a hand crank). 
Benefit: Control of the angle and shape of your sharpened point. The blades on these are often easy to re-sharpen.
Downside: Messier than most, and they have a bigger learning curve than other sharpeners, and please don't cut your fingers off. 

2. Prism sharpener: These are the most common type - they're the kind that comes with a sharp blade attached to a plastic, metal, or wooden base with a cone fashioned into it. This type of sharpener can come with or without a shavings reservoir, can positioned to be right or left-handed, and will make consistent points. Prism sharpeners can be manufactured with different angles or blade sizes to produce different point lengths on a pencil, such as with the Masterpiece or the Pollux. They can also be adjustable by adding a knob that either moves the whole angle of the blade (like the T'Gaal) or elongating the inner cone itself (Dux Adjustable). These also can come with a small hole and a jumbo hole to accommodate regular and jumbo pencils. 
Benefit: Fool proof, consistently-sized points, and these can be relatively mess-free with a reservoir. 
Downside: These don't give many options for point shape variation, and they can be unforgiving if you do not hold your pencil perfectly straight inside. Many do not have replaceable, or easily sharpened blades, so they tend to be disposable once dull. 

3. Sandpaper: From nail files, to artist paddles, to just a sheet from your local hardware store, the grit of sandpaper is excellent for filing wood and graphite. Sandpaper paddles are often found in drawing kits, especially those that contain fragile materials like 6B pencils or charcoal sticks. They can be tricky to get right, but are excellent with odd sized pencils or soft materials like pastels. 
Benefit: With practice, you can control the amount of pressure put onto the point of your implement, so fragile tips can be handled with care. You can also control the angle and shape of your point, or refine jagged edges from knife-sharpening. 
Downside: SUPER messy. I find sandpaper also takes a lot longer than other types of sharpening. 

4. Planetary/Crank sharpener: Planetary sharpeners describe any sharpener that uses a crank and a set of gears to rotate the sharpening mechanism. Most commonly, these have cylindrical helix burs that shave the pencil with a series of small cuts that result in teeny curly shavings. There are also types that combine blades with gears, so you get the chiseled result of a knife-sharpened point, with the consistency of a regular bur sharpener. There are also lots of designs out there that have adjustable point length, so you can get both short or long results from the same sharpener. 
Benefit: These usually work faster and tidier than handheld sharpeners. They are also often designed to accommodate multiple pencil diameters and shapes.
Downside: Cheap ones can often "eat" your pencil by pulling too much in (though nice ones will have a stopping mechanism built in). Also, they are super bulky, so not ideal for carrying around. 

A word on electric sharpeners: These work the same way as a hand-crank sharpener, though they rely on electricity instead of your sweet biceps to power the machine. These are either designed with conical burs or have a prism sharpener with a blade inside. And, unfortunately, they often suck. 

Working with your sharpener

One of my favorite things about working for CW is trying out every type of item we have and taking lots of "scientific" notes about the product's results (see how obsessive I got with erasers here). Thus, I've spent a considerable amount of time trying out each and every sharpener we've carried (here's last year's sampling!), and troubleshooting common sharpener problems. Here's a couple notes on sharpener use and care! 

Hold your pencil straight! 
This tip is kind of a no-brainer, but a crooked hold is the leading cause of pencil death worldwide. 

But seriously, if your pencil is inserted at the wrong angle, you will end up with a very bad sharpen, with the wood covering up one side of the graphite, or you'll end up with a broken pencil. This goes especially for long point or curved sharpeners, like the Pollux. 

Watch out for dull blades! 
If a sharpener is consistently breaking a pencil, there's usually two reasons why it could be happening: it's either a bad pencil or it's the sharpener (or see the tip above and try again). The sharpener is the most common culprit, simply because so many styles aren't made with good blades. Cheap sharpeners get dull extremely quickly! 

You'll notice your sharpener is dull if it doesn't make a clean turn around the pencil, and instead makes sloppy, chunky cuts and shaving bits. Dull blades will also often snap the pencil's core. 

Take care of your blades!
Most quality sharpeners, such as the brass Bullet by M+R or the brass Block by Dux, have replacement blades that are easy to come by, it's just important to find the right ones. Unfortunately, replacement blades are not universal, but if you've got a good name-brand sharpener you should be able to find the right ones. We stock replacement blades for: Bullet, Round Double Hole, Masterpiece and Automatic Long Point, and Pollux and Castor.

If you can't replace the blade, you can try giving it a good clean with some canned air (to get any bits that are jammed inside or underneath), some alcohol wipes and some Q-tips. That will give a little extra life to the plastic sharpeners that don't have replaceable blades.

Canned air is especially useful for cleaning burr sharpeners as well. Those babies tend to get lots of pencil crud stuck in amongst the gears or in between the spirals, which will make for a sad sharpening experience. A little blast of air and some swipes with a cotton swab can solve a world of problems with a burr.  

Use the right screwdriver!
To replace sharpener blades, all you need is a screwdriver and new blades. That being said, I've gotten a lot of inquiries about stuck blades or screws, and the problem is almost ALWAYS the screwdriver, not the sharpener. If you can't turn the screw, make sure you're using the right size screwdriver! Eyeglass screwdrivers are usually too small, and will just spin around and strip the screw head. I've found a size PH1 (that's Phillips head size 1) is the best size for sharpener screws, and that has worked for me pretty universally between Kum, M+R, Dux and Dahle. I have this Homaster set from Amazon for fiddling with small machines, and the largest screwdriver in the set is the one I use for sharpeners. 

So here's your prompt for the month: Sharpen up your sharpening! Find a minute to take apart your prism or Classroom Friendly and clean off all the caked-on graphite, or spend some time with an X-acto knife refining your hand sharpening game. Bonus points if you consult David Rees, prince of pencil sharpening, on the matter. 

Also, I don't know first aid, so. You know. Be careful with your blades!

P.S. Here's a little peek at some favorites in my sharpener collection.

• Pencil shaver, c. 1890s, Germany
• Plastic carousel, astronaut and thermos, c. 1970s, China (The carousel spins when you sharpen a pencil!)
• Bakelite Scotty dog and airplane, c. 1920s, USA
• Dux Adjustable Sharpener, c. 1940s, Germany - check it out compared to the modern one!

This month's #PencilPrompt: Where do you take your pencils on vacation? We'd love to see! Special BONUS: Throughout the month of July, in each online order we will be tucking in a #pencilsonvacation postcard. Color it, doodle on it, whatever you want, and send it back to us for a discount off your next order! 

We're deep into summer travel season, so we've got a bit of vacation-brain here in the office. (It doesn't help that we don't have shop hours to adhere to currently). Of course this gets us talking -- how do you take pencils on vacation? 

Perhaps the first and toughest question is just how many pencils to bring? We discussed the every day carry in last month's Prompt, but packing for a vacation requires some extra thought. I mean, it seems silly to add too much bulk to luggage by bringing too much stationery, but what if you lose one pencil, or work all the way through it, or *GASP* you need to take a cute Instagram and don't have a pencil to match. 

I like to take a PYP approach (because if I don't establish packing rules, I will just dump my pencil cup into my suitcase.) for traveling, though I do usually bring a multi-colored pencil just for embellishment on postcards. PYP is a terribly genius term we came up with that stands for "pimp your pencil." Basically, it's pencils that are fully accessorized - an eraser cap, a point protector, and a pocket clip*. Or, you can even go one step better and use a Perfect Pencil cap or a Kum Tip Top, so you don't even need to add a sharpener to your carry on. 

Speaking of sharpeners, we have been asked a number of times if sharpeners are allowed on airplanes. The short answer is yes - TSA regulations do not prohibit small bladed items like razors and pencil sharpeners. Of course just because these things can be unpredictable, there's no guarantee that your sharpener won't be inspected by TSA, but I have truthfully never heard of that happening. Except that one time Caroline brought an El Casco 24ct gold-plated canister sharpener in her carry on to bring to the Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum in Ohio -- OF COURSE the TSA were like "WTF is this?" I mean, how often do you come across a gold-plated sharpener in someone's bag? They were terribly amused to discover it was a sharpener. Traveling to a sharpener museum. Lesson learned: gold plated sharpeners go in the checked luggage. 

Pencil tourism in and of itself can be a really fun addition to a vacation. Our secret trick for finding unique pencils is to dig into old art or office supply stores, or even places like used book stores, antique stores or thrift shops. Pencils are collectible, but still many people think of them as a discardable item, so it's easy often easy to snag vintage finds on back country roads. And, of course, nearly all gift shops everywhere all the time have advertising pencils, so those are easy to pick up.

Of course, if you REALLY want to be a pencil tourist, there's a number of places you could pilgrimage to around the world. Caroline's even got a short chapter on it in The Pencil Perfect. (Also: please don't worry, CW Pencil Enterprise will be back to a physical location you can actually visit in the very near future). Here's a few in the US: 

Paul A Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum

The Pencil Factory (aka the Eberhard Faber Factory), Brooklyn, NY

Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, Jersey City, NJ (these are actually apartments now, but the building is a neat walk-by!)

Pencil City, USA (the Musgrave factory in Shelbyville, TN)

Henry David Thoreau Collection, Concord Museum, Concord, MA 

World's Largest Pencil, City Museum, St. Louis, MO 

Anyway... Here's a couple extra tips we've picked up in our travels: Toothbrush holders make excellent pencil cases for 2-3 pencils, which is good for keeping things minimal! Collapsible shot glasses are great shavings catchers on the go (though my person trick is using the plastic case the Masterpiece comes in). Drug store makeup sections always have pencil sharpeners in a pinch. Do you have any tips or tricks for toting pencils on vacation? 

Where are you and your pencils going? We're eager to see where in the world our pencils travel to! Share your #pencilsonvacation with us on social media, or send us back this month's special postcard with your destination penciled in. 

 *Pencil clips coming to CWPE soon!! Stay tuned. 

When I first heard about Caitlin's prompt, I'm pretty sure I instantly turned a nice shade of red. My EDC situation is kind of embarrassing. And seems even more embarrassing after reading all my coworkers' beautifully refined EDCs.

I like to blame my career. As I'm sure I've mentioned an irritating amount of times, I'm a freelance illustrator in addition to being a Pencil Lady. One of the great things about being a freelance illustrator is that I have a lot of flexibility and can work from just about anywhere. The downside is that the supplies I use for illustrating can really accumulate.

Instead of a nice bag or small backpack, I honestly lug around an overstuffed, gray backpack that looks like it's been trampled by all of NYC most days. When I say overstuffed, I mean it's filled with everything from pencils to peanut M&Ms to maybe a pair of socks with avocados on them and it weighs about half as much as I do. My fellow Pencil Ladies (who have all made the mistake of picking up said backpack) can attest to how just how overstuffed/damn heavy it is.

Anyway, let's ignore the socks, the tupperware, the laptop, and the peanut M&Ms (which'll likely be eaten by the time I finish writing this), and just focus on the stationery, writing, and drawing supplies.  

Here we go:

First thing's first, my utensil case. For the past few years, I've been rocking a custom-made case by Allison Bamcat, a talented artist and my former coworker back in my Converse pattern and graphics department days. As a going-away gift (moving from Boston to NYC), she created a case tailored to fit my favorite pens (which I'll get to later) out of a french fry fabric she designed. There's even a perfect little pocket on the side for erasers!

Since we're on that eraser pocket, I usually have two erasers in there. Lately it's been two of my all-time favorite erasers--the Caran D'Ache Technik and then a nub of a Matomaru-Kun long rectangular eraser. I've recently added the Mono Zero to the mix as well, because you know what? Odd numbers are nice.

Okay, let's go inside the case. The pencils. In a perfect world, I'd just have an HB, a 4B or 6B, and maybe a 2H on me so I could have access to a range of grades while working in my sketchbook. In reality, as I drew out above, I have:

• 1 Viking Element 1
• 1 Mono100 HB
• 1 Editor (which is sort of my 2H substitute, since it runs a little hard)
• 1 Mono KM-KKS 6B (my pencil crush of the moment)
• 1 yellow HB Bruynzeel from Holland that I think Caitlin gave me?
• 1 Franky and Friends Ibis B that just sort of appeared in my case one day
• 1 CWPE x Caran D'Ache Black Wood, that I use on everything from concept sketches, to To Do lists, to murals.

Now, this always feels a little blasphemous here, but let's move on to the pens. Again, in a perfect world, I'd carry a black gel pen, a red gel pen, a blue gel pen, a brush pen, a white gel pen, and then maybe a regular ball point. Of course, given the brick-like state of my utensil case, that is not the case. Here's the truth:

• 1 black, 1 red, 1 blue, and 1 sky blue Muji gel pen, all with 0.5mm points
• 1 0.4mm Hi-Tec-C Pilot pen with navy ink
• 2 0.5mm Hi-Tec-C Pilot pens with black ink
• 1 0.3mm Hi-Tec-C Pilot pen with black ink
• 1 Pentel brush pen with black ink
• 1 Uni-Ball Signo pen in white ink
• 1 Prodin Seven Year ballpoint pen in black ink
• 1 empty yellow plastic Lamy Safari that I swear I'll refill soon really
• 1 Super Fine Zebra Disposable Brush Pen
• 1 Fine Zebra Disposable Brush Pen ( honestly, I was carrying two, but I just gave one to Caroline)
•  and 1 neon pink Gelly Roll pen. You know. For good measure. 

I mean, what girl doesn't need to carry around 700 black pens at once. 

Now, my notebooks and sketchbooks. Given the state of everything else in my bag, I show a moderate amount of self-control in this area. I usually have on notebooks for lists, ideation, and occasionally thumbnail sketches. Lately, I've been using my Mnemosyne 195 for that.

And then as far as sketchbooks go, I always always always have a 5.5" x 5.5" Handbook Journal on me. Right now I have one with a black canvas cover that's nearly filled--it's actually what I drew all these illustrations in for this post! It has beautifully thick, toothy paper that works well with pencil, ink, and some light paintwork. I've used these obsessively since college. 

Last two bits that seem relevant here (since I use them for art things), are my laptop (which 85% of the weight in my backpack) and Wacom Tablet. 

So there you have it! My EDC. Hopefully for the sake of my sanity and back I pare it down a bit. 

I was super excited when Caitlin announced she wanted to do an EDC series because I LOVE nosing through other people's bags and pencils cases (was anyone else an addict of Flickr's "What's In Your Bag?" group?). But when I started thinking about what I carry around every day, I realized that it changes a lot. When I'm heading to the library or coffee shop for a good writing session, it can be a lot. When I'm going out for a day of errands, it's usually just my wallet, phone, and earbuds. So I thought I'd break it down into three categories for you instead: Pencil Case, Paper, and Letter Writing. (PS The products that I could still find on the internet is linked at the bottom of the post)

But of course, on the average day I have my pencil case with me. I really wish I were one of those people who carried around a single pencil, and maybe a backup Bic Cristal just in case, and called it a day. But obviously I'm not, so here's the contents of my CWPE Viking case. I'm working through a MoMA pencil right now, with a Sivo as a backup, because I'm on a strict one-pencil-at-a-time diet until I burn through some of the million pencil's I've accumulated. I keep a couple of Pentel markers and a colorful Pilot Juice in there, in case I want to address an envelope or color code something in my planner. The Caran d'Dache ballpoint and Kaweco Sport (currently inked with Diamine Green) are reliable pen options. That ZIG glue is the coolest glue: it goes on blue and dries clear AND if you stick it while it's blue, the adhesive is permanent; if you stick it after it dries, it's removable! I need to keep a ruler on me because I underline when I read and can't draw a straight line to save my life. And the Castor is my current favorite hand-held sharpener, which is why I'm toting it along even though I already have a brass sharpener attached to my pencil case.

When it comes to notebooks, I rarely have all four of these on me at once. In reality, the pocket notebook is the only one that comes with me everywhere (right now it's a Write Notepads "In the Pines" special edition, but I go through pocket notebooks pretty quickly and am always trying different ones). I dump everything in it: grocery lists, a song title I want to remember, etc. The blue Traveler's Notebook contains my weekly calendar and comes to the pencil shop with me every day. Usually tucked into some pocket of the Traveler's Notebook is the little yellow guy from Maruai. I keep addresses in there, in no particular order. It's frightfully unorganized, but I never end up spending too much time looking for an address, and the slimness means I can take it everywhere with me. The Emilio Braga is where I work on my fiction writing.

I don't carry this stuff around with me every day, but these are my letter writing essentials, which get a good bit of exercise. The Penco three-pocket folder on the left is super handy for keeping up with correspondence. In the first pocket, I keep mail to which I need to reply; in the second, I keep the stationery I plan to use to reply (plus some backup postcards and writing paper); in the third I keep sheets of stamps. The Delfonics pouch on the right keeps all my stickers together, and a few loose vintage stamps. Between these two (and a fistful of fun markers, which would take up an entire blog post on their own), I'm all set to answer letters from you guys, send postcards while on vacation, or take over a table at a coffee shop.

Pencil Case: CWPE Viking Leather Case  |  M+R Brass Bullet Keyring Sharpener  |  Mono Black Plastic Eraser  |  M+R Long Point Castor Sharpener  |  MoMA Pencil  |  Kaweco Skyline Sport Mint  |  Helix Plastic Ruler  |  Pentel S360 Color Pens in 132 and 106  |  Caran d'Ache Ballpoint Pen  |  ZIG Two Way Glue Pen  |  Pilot Juice 0.5 in Leaf Green  |  e+m Pencil Extender  |  Sivo Absolute H

Paper: Emilio Braga  |  Traveler's Factory Blue Edition Notebook  |  Write Notepad "In the Pines" Edition  |  Maruai The Basic Notebook Pocket

Letting Writing: Penco three pocket folder  |  Delfonics Fournitures de Bureau pouch

As you might know, Caitlin kicked us off with this month's #pencilprompt about the hot topic of Everyday Carry last week and asked each of us pencil ladies to share ours. 

Admittedly this idea of EDC is something I learned about only after opening the shop and stalking our customers on Instagram. For the record guys--you're WAY cooler than me/thank you for helping me understand what EDC means. But I must also say that knowing that this is a thing has also given me some anxiety. Should I be carrying more? Do I need more? Am I missing out of all of these analog activities by not having all these things? I'm more of a planner-and-pencil gal and never regularly carried much more than that. Also--there are so many watches and pocket knives in other people's EDC flat lays. Do those count? Do I need them? Am I still an adult even though I don't wear a watch or own a knife? I have so many questions!!

For me, my EDC really changed when I started bringing my letter writing practice out of my living room writing desk and and with me every day. I'll often prep my letters at home and then finish/actually write them on the go. Even so, I still keep some supplies so I can immediately write postcards clipped to restaurant receipts or decorate a card on the go. Right now I'm probably the most comfortable I've ever been with my daily bag-packing abilities. I have just what a need and a few things I just simply want. 

Now, another confession: I don't carry a notebook. I have a work notebook that stays at work, a journal that stays on my nightstand, a few project notebooks that live in my home desk and a grocery list notebook in the kitchen. If I have free time throughout the day I am most likely writing a letter or reading. For the things I do need a notebook for my beloved Smythson Soho Diary (my all-time most important life object of about 4 years) is about half planner, half notebook. Those empty pages are mostly full of lists, things I'm supposed to remember and notes from meetings. 

Here it goes:

This is everything that is in my bag today (Thursday, June 8th). I wish I'd remembered this morning that I'd be doing this today because my selection isn't as interesting as it could be.  Essentially, my general rule is that if it doesn't fit in my planner or Viking pencil case, I'm not allowed to take it with me. 

Good thing my planner has this nice pocket in the back! Not EDC related: a pencil cartoon my Nana mailed to me and a recipe for a no-bake earl grey chocolate tart somehow found their way in here too.

Flat things that go in the planner:

• Vintage postage stamps: Hitchcock, Steinbeck and American Illustrators
• Current stamps: Love Skywriting and Delicioso
• Pizza stickers from Oriental Trading
• Mini heart stickers from Mrs. Grossman's
• Gold star stickers probably from Amazon 
• Three pieces of mail--two that I finished today on my lunch break and one that I will do later

The flat things are the most important because they are the most non-essential. These are the things that make me smile most when I'm looking for something else in my bag. I feel less guilty for keeping them with me everyday because they're flat. As long as they fit in the pocket, right? 

 Other things that go in the pencil case: 

• Three pencils: Camel Pastel Pencil, Blackwing Vol. 530, Apsara Absolute. This number is really important. I occasionally lose them and occasionally don't have time to sharpen and need a back up prepared and ready to go. 
• One red pencil: This is for marking things off my lists, drawing things on envelopes and editing stuff .
• One NoBlot or comparable copying pencil: For writing letters, signing books and feeling like to well-rounded pencil lady. 
• One black brush pen or felt tip marker: I LOVE this one but I can't find mine so this Pigma MB is holding its place until I find it. These are used exclusively for practicing my handwriting and addressing envelopes. 
• One regular pen: Today I have my New York Letter Writing Society Cross rollerball, which is heavy and makes me feel really fancy. Sometimes it's a Caran d'Ache 849 or my Lamy Safari. These are used for writing checks and letters.
• Random washi tapes: These are to add flair as needed. I carry the ones that are almost done because they take up less space. 
• Coccoina glue stick: This is one of my favorite things. It's a glue stick and it smells like almonds. This is for lots of things including gluing stamps. 
• Travel scissors: These are REALLY flat and surprising sharp. I got mine from Choosing Keeping last time I was in London. 
• Matomaru Kun Eraser: I'm not supposed to express such a strong opinion on these things but this is my all-time favorite eraser. It's soft and spongy so I don't have to worry about going to town with it on my paper. 
• A sharpener: Today I have one that looks like a lego that was sent to me by a lovely customer. It sharpens to a surprisingly long point and is really small. 

There you have it! As an aspiring minimalist, I think I'm doing alright, especially considering the profession I'm in. It's all about loving the things you carry and carrying the things that you love. For me, that's stickers, stamps and glue (and pencils, of course!). 

Share yours with us on social media and tag #pencilprompts! 

Let's get straight to the prompt right away this month: What's in your everyday carry?? Share with us on social media with tag #PencilPrompt. 

As an analog obsessive, it's difficult for me to part with my tools even if I am only going out for a cup of coffee. At any given time, I am usually carrying a fat pile of letter writing materials and a pencil case filled with my favorite utensils (and we'll just pretend that my bag doesn't also have at least 6 lipsticks in it). 

We call these set ups an "Everyday Carry." While ours tend to involve mainly just pencils and related stationery supplies, EDC is also most often associated with survival kits that include knives, flashlights, multi-tools, fidget spinners and more.

Let's just focus on the stationery, shall we? (Though, having lived in earthquake country most of my life, I am a HUGE advocate for the emergency EDC. #BePrepared.)

Here's a couple especially satisfying blogs and stores that focus on the art of the EDC:

Everydaycarry.com
Gear Patrol
This is Ground
The Finer Point
Nock Co

On a regular day, I carry a pencil case and a Kokuyo Systemic. I'm currently using the CWPE Leather Case in Cognac, but I am also terribly, terribly fond of my childhood SpaceMaker (because it holds SO MANY pens and pencils!). I've picked these carriers as my usual set ups because they fit in the backpacks and tote bags I use regularly. 

Here's a peek at my "regular" set up:

In my case:
- One pencil (more on this below)
- Two to three pens or markers, particularly Papermate Flair Pens or a fountain pen like the very new CdA 849 fountain pen! 
- Pilot Juice 0.38mm*
- A very slim eraser, like the Mono Zero or Seed Slendy
- Architect Alumicolor Scale Ruler

In my Kokuyo:
- Baron Fig Vanguard in Flagship
- Stamps
- Letters to respond to.
- Ephemera: Stickers, stationery, washi tape, loose bits of magazine clippings... 

Thoughts on one pencil

In last month's prompt, we talked about SABLE, a status which I am well past. I've been trying to whittle down my stash by using only one pencil at a time (a practice we also talked about back in January). It gives me anxiety from time to time because I feel tempted to switch when I come across something new or desire the comfort of an old favorite, but it's really helped me stronger opinions on pencils (for example, this process has helped me discover that I am one of the few that does not like the Swiss Wood at CWPE). 

Do you go for one pencil at a time, or prefer multiple pencils for your EDC? Luckily, at my place of work I'm never more than 6 inches away from a pencil at any given moment, should I need to "cheat" on my current work horse... 

How I curate my EDC

- Purpose: My analog needs include three things: planning/journaling, letter writing, and illustration. What I carry changes depending on my mood and how ambitious I feel for a day, but I generally try to boil it down to the minimal (hah!) amount of items I can use to accomplish all three. And then, you know, just things I like having around. What's your ideal amount of EDC items? 

- Want vs. Need: Lots of these EDC blogs seem to favor color-coordinated sets with nary a janky short pencil among them. I love the idea of carrying around a sleek leather case with coordinating utensils with identical brass fittings, but that method always leaves me wanting to add something else. On the flip side, if I am curating my case simply based on what I think I "need," my case quickly overflows with too many extras because I bizarrely think I'm going to miss having something (Caitlin, do you need to carry around four scented highlighters at all times?). Any frivolous items in your EDC?

- Sharpening on the go: We have much discussion about this when recommending sharpeners in the shop. I think my new favorite is the Castell 9000 sharpener because it so mess-free, but it's kind of bulky for a pencil case. The brass bullet with key ring is superb, because you'll lose it as often as you lose your keys (which hopefully isn't too often!), but there's no reservoir so you're often searching for a dumping ground for shavings. My ultimate solution is actually a Masterpiece, sans neoprene case. The little plastic case it comes with is great in a pinch to host shavings until a receptacle can be found. AND you don't need to sharpen so often with a nice long point. 

- Size vs. function: Weight and bulk are both things I think about when packing my everyday bag. I may be a fanatic, but I am all for lightweight when I pack. Pocket notebooks are perfect for lists and notes and take up minimal space, but I personally detest them because I find them hard to write in. I think A5 notebooks are the jam, however, especially ones like the Baron Fig Vanguard or the Emilio Braga stitch-bound notebooks. Perfectly sized for tossing in a bag, nicely flexible covers, and exceptional paper that takes both pen and pencil very well. Function comes before form for me, however, so I definitely prefer a notebook I can fill up with bullet journaling and lots of doodles. 

- That one weird item: There's always something I don't really need every day, but I like to have anyway because it makes me happy. This is probably my Muji business card holder full of stamps. Do I need my entire stamp collection with me always? No, definitely not. But the holder fits in my Kokuyo, weighs almost nothing, and periodically, I like to sort my stamps when I'm bored or anxious. What's your odd EDC item?

So how do you put together your EDC? What does it go into? How do you weed out the excess? Does yours include non-stationery items? Share us your thoughts below, or show us your EDC on social media with tag #PencilPrompt! Stay tuned later this month, when our lovely pencil crew will share what goes into their daily carry. 

*This is my all-time favorite pen, which is why it's noted separately from the rest of the pens.The precision is so good! I use it for everything from addressing letters to outlining my watercolor illustrations. 

Prompt of the month: Show us your pencil stash! Have you reached SABLE yet? Not sure what that is? Read on.

When I first started working for CW and began diving deep into the world of wood and graphite, there were a lot of terms I didn't know. "Point retention," "ferrule," and the definitions for the HB scale were quickly learned, while other terms came much later after delving into the wonderfully nerdy Erasable Podcast Pencil Community. This group is populated solely by passionate pencil enthusiasts, each eager to ask questions and share knowledge about their favorite writing utensils. From these lovely people I learned my favorite term: SABLE. It stands for "Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy," and it just delightfully describes what many of us do with our pencils: We hoard them. 

I, for one, have an ever-growing collection of pencils at home in mugs, jars, Dudeks, and clear Rubbermaid bins, stashed all over my apartment. I'm constantly adding to it (how could I not? Do you know where I work?!), and I think I'm already well past SABLE. 

Which of course made me wonder - just how many pencils would last a lifetime (or, in case of SABLE, beyond)? Let's crunch some numbers.

There is much dubious information on the internet regarding just how many words a pencil can write. There's one Discovery listicle that states a pencil can write 45,000 words, yet also claims no one has ever tested this factoid (but still, this factoid is cited all over the internet! Where did it come from? Who made it up? Where is Mr. Owl to help us get to the center of this Tootsie pop?). 

Eberhard Faber Mongol ads from the 1950s offer a wildly different claim, which the company says they tested.  A Mongol 482 #2 could write 16,230 words, according to these ads. So a high-quality #2 from the golden age of pencils could write two-thirds less than whatever modern pencil someone used to make up the 45,000 words? Something doesn't add up. 

And yet, I stumbled across this fascinating piece of literature which goes even deeper in to the question. Using the post-apocalyptic world of the video game The Last of Us as inspiration, the writer imagined a future need to hand-copy the entirety of Wikipedia using only pencils (which, seriously, will last longer than pens in the apocalypse. There's one reason to start a stash!). It's a really good article even if you're not a pencil or video game nerd! 

This led to discovering the project To Write a Mockingbird (TWAM), in which a group of adults used one 2007-era Dixon Ticonderoga #2 (which were likely better than 2017-era Ticonderogas) to copy the entirety of To Kill a Mockingbird. For the record, if I had a time machine, I would go back in time and introduce them to the idea of a pencil extender because that tape and toothpick combo they came up with, while innovative, breaks my graphite covered heart. 

Anyway! Back to the numbers. The TWAM group proved that a pencil has a lot more longevity in it than one might think! It took the TWAM group of 26 adults 36 continuous hours to write roughly 100,388 words with one pencil.

The average adult can write 13.6 words per minute by hand (that's going off the of handwriting average of 68 letters per minute, combined with average word length in the English language being about 5 letters long). Let's assume that the average adult doesn't spend the kind of time and focus that the TWAM group did and make a wild guess that the average avid adult pencil user spends 1 hour each day actually writing with a pencil (not counting staring into space, waiting for ideas to sink in, and yes, totally disregarding things like point retention and pencil hardness because I'm a pencil lady, not a scientist Jim!). Ready, MATH!*

•  1 adult can write 816 words per hour (13.6 words per minute x 60 minutes per hour)
• 1 pencil can write for approximately 122.6 hours (100,000(ish) words per pencil / 816 words per hour =122.6 hours)
• 1 hour a day for 365 days a year, divided by 122.6 hours per pencil = 2.97 pencils a year (woah, totally thought it would be more!)

Alyx went even deeper for me:

 So my SABLE is 120 pencils (yeah, definitely surpassed that)! Honestly speaking, I think I go through about one whole pencil every two weeks, and I'd consider myself a fairly heavy pencil user. My SABLE is probably more like... 24 pencils a year, times 40 years, plus extra pencils during Letter Writing Month, plus... Okay. It's a lot! So I guess.... That means I can buy more pencils, right?? 

How does that apply to your stash? Have you reached SABLE yet? Here's a couple people that have surpassed SABLE and entered into the beyond:

• Largest Collection of Pencils - Guinness World Record 
• Emilio Arena's Museum of Collections (check out that wall of pencils!!)
• This incredibly organized customer we met in the shop last week
• Granny's Empire of Art in San Francisco, featuring a 3 story stairwell COVERED in pencils

Here's the prompt of the month: Show us your stash! Pull 'em out, admire them in their wonderfully hoarded glory, and show us the goods! Share it with us using #PencilSABLE - we'd love to see! 

Now for the hard question - what are you going to do with all these babies? I'm thinking I might reach My Precious status with some of my Mongol collection someday...

*Seriously, we're not mathematicians. Forgive us if the equations aren't totally sound!