(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
I am, at heart, an optimist. I'm always convinced that better times are coming, despite having my entire millennial existence as evidence to the contrary. But generally speaking, I'm always excited for the new year to start. I wasn't excited in 2025 for REASONS, and we're certainly entering 2026 under a dark cloud, but I can sense a speck of hope the way a shark senses a drop of blood in the water--and it's there. Just a drop, but that's all I need to keep going.
And so, in a fit of optimism, I have big plans for 2026. I have goals. And I've got my toolkit ready to go. Here's the lineup.
My planner this year is the Hobonichi Weeks Mega. I like the weekly layout, the blank page with room for a running weekly checklist, and all the pages for notes at the end.
This year I also intend to keep up with a Midori 5-year diary. This black embroidered one has been in my review queue for a few months, but it felt weird to start it in the middle of the year--so, now, it is time.
My Pebble Stationery notebook is about full, and I've finally finished pulling everything useful out of my previous short story notebook, so that means it is time for a new short story notebook! I will be sad to retire my old one. It's an original Seven Seas Writer with the old Tomoe River Paper. I've filled all 480 pages with weird stories. Most have already been released into the world. Others never will be. As sad as I am to stop carrying around this old friend who has been by my side since 2017, I'm excited to crack the spine on a fresh one. Because of course when I fell in love with the Nanami Paper Seven Seas Writer, I bought four of them. This will be the second, and I have two in reserve for future weirdness. I love holding the fresh book next to the old one and seeing how beautifully it aged.
My commonplace book this year--repository of the brain dumps, lists, book reviews, and random thoughts--is an Oberon leather journal cover with one of their A5 inserts. I've used these a few times before in the past and really enjoy them. I think this sturdy leather will survive the burden of being my external brain for a year or two.
My final notebook of the year is a Midori A6 in the goat skin cover, which is my knitting book, where I make lists of projects, note pattern adjustments or yarn substitutions, etc. I've joined a sock-a-month club for 2026, and I'm excited to document that process.
For inks, I want to empty some bottles this year. I keep skimming one or two fills from the tops of 40 or 50 bottles, so the ink levels never seem to go down. This year, I want to primarily use these two inks and see if I can empty the bottles. I'll still use other inks as well, but I want to focus on these. Van Dieman's Encore Stage Fright and Monarca Arena Blanca. A tealy blue and a gold-green sepia--very practical everyday inks.
For pens, my two purse fountain pens are not changing. I've been carrying the Schon DSGN Faceted Titanium Shell fountain pen with the rainbow monoc nib since I bought it at the 2024 Chicago Pen Show. This is the most expensive fountain pen that I own, but I don't baby it. I carry it every day and I put it to work. I told myself, at the time, that I could only justify the cost of the pen if it paid for itself in stories it writes with me. Fortunately it has done that many times over, and I intend for it to continue to do so. And with the titanium and ultem body and the Schon DSGN build, I know it can handle it.
I'm also continuing to carry the Kaweco AL Sport Piston Filler fountain pen when I'm traveling or out with a smaller bag. It's such a good writer and holds an impressive amount of ink.
That is my stationery lineup for 2026. I have a goal to write 500 words a day, six days a week. That should keep me on top of my deadlines. And it should fill some notebooks and use up some inks. Hopefully.
And that's how we go into 2026: Hopefully.
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