If the way she's holding her pencil looks a bit funny, it's because I originally drew her left-handed, holding the pencil in a left-handed overhand grip. I later decided that I didn't want to try to fake left-handed handwriting for the entire run of the comic (the plan at that time was to have it told in illustrated diary form, with Karen's journal providing a voiceover) so I made her a right-hander and flopped it; however, the awkward pencil grip remains. My own pencil grip is kind of weird, sort of fisted with the thumb tucked under my index finger, so it's not too odd that Karen might have developed an unusual way of holding a writing implement at some point.