With new Christmas Candy Cane Pencils entering my shop this week, it got me thinking about why I LOVE pencils so much.
If you make a mistake you can rub it out!
Although you have to sharpen them, they can last for ages; unlike a pen which can dry out, or quickly run out of ink.
But my main love for pencils is because using a pencil makes my handwriting ten times neater. Anyone else?!
The idea of the pencils date back to the 1500s when graphite was discovered in one of my favourite places in the world, The Lake District. (I visit there every year, it’s like my second home!) But the pencil as we know it wasn’t manufactured in Keswick, until 1832.
If you ever visit the area, do make sure you visit the Pencil Museum. My favourite artefacts there include the wartime pencil which contains a map of Germany and a compass inside it! And the museum also has the largest colouring pencil in the world.
Did you know Derwent colouring pencils were actually used to draw all the images in The Snowman animation? And I use Derwent watercolour pencils to help restore some of my notebooks!
Roald Dahl ALWAYS wrote in pencil, so if it’s good enough for him… right? He always used a particular kind of yellow pencil with a rubber on the end. Before he started writing he made sure he had six sharpened pencils in a jar by his side, each lasting two ours before they needed resharpening in his electric pencil sharpener!
There are so many pencils to choose from, but you can’t beat a good HB. I don’t mind a mechanical pencil I do find it annoying when the lead becomes too small and keeps popping back up inside the pencil!
Although its a wonderful idea to make pencils from recycled materials, do be sure to check the leads as I often find that some do not write as well.
In my opinion you can’t beat a wooden pencil – but be aware of cheap pencils – they may write well but the erasers on the end often smudge and they tend to crumble when they are sharpened.
And finally remember to look after your pencils and try not to drop them, there’s nothing worse than a broken lead which requires constant sharpening!
I’d love to know if there are more pencil lovers out there! Get in touch!
Retro from Scratch 