I have used a white charcoal pencil made by the General Pencil Company for as long as I can remember. They are the perfect pencil for marking medium to dark fabric AND they are very affordable! You can find them here and here on my website.
Imagine my surprise when I saw a feature story about General Pencil today in the New York Times! It is a great story, with amazing photos by Christopher Payne, that tells us how pencils are still being made in the US.
I’m even more impressed now at both the quality of every pencil and the low prices!
Click here to read the article in the New York Times.
Piece O Cake Blog 
I used them for a while, but then suddenly they seemed to be breaking all the time. May have to give them another try
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Sometimes a bad blade on your sharpener will cause the chalk to break. Or it could be that you dropped the pencil on a hard floor (I hate it when I do that). I think really dry air can also cause the chalk to be more prone to breaking. Or it could just be a bad pencil…
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Thanks for sharing this article. It is fascinating. I have used General’s white pencils for a number of years, and also the grey, although not as often. Now I wonder how I can be sure to use General’s other pencils, after reading this article. I’ve never thought to look for them in other formats.
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very cool article
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Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
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This is so interesting. I’ve never thought about how a pencil was made. It’s just one of the things you take for granted. Thanks for sharing.
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great article! Thanks for sharing. So, are you in New York visiting or just reading the Times?
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I just read the Times. At least some of it every day. >
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I, too, have used them since the late 90s. I have used others over the following years, but they remain a favorite!
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Thanks for the link…what an amazing process for our little tool
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Thanks for sharing the article on pencils, Becky. It is always interesting to learn how things we use every day are made and we take them so much for granted.
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