Instagram story viewer> @speakingofenergy> Posts

Libby | Energetic Interpreter

@speakingofenergy

1.9K

followers

475

following

Professional finder of joy and dismantler of evil.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

How do you know when you’ve landed on the right color? For me it’s a full body exhale. Everything softens as if to say, “Yep! That’s the one.”

There are times I reallllly want a color to work only to realize I’m holding my breath or tensing my body. That won’t do.

I’m ordering a handful of colors in order to audition them for the pattern I have in mind. They need to compliment each other while also bringing out the colors of the floral motif that will play nicely together.

Thank goodness for color cards and swatches! It’s far easier to determine these choices with wool in hand instead of relying on pixels glowing from a computer screen.

These are from @appletons_wool by way of @hmnabavian. I’m aware that thread options are endless in the land of needlepoint, but I’m happy right here. I limit my decision points so that my brain doesn’t hit tilt.

Do you have a tried and true process for selecting colors, or do you wing it every time? by @speakingofenergy

8

2

a day ago

A very sweet pup left an excellent parting gift. by @speakingofenergy

16

5

2 days ago

This may seem like a simple concept, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Each Fall one of the activities for the first week of school was to cover our textbooks in brown paper shopping bags. Supposedly this prolonged the life of the book. Whether that held true or not, it provided us a lovely surface to fill with notes and doodles.

Faced with a blank template for an autumnal limited collection for @golden.coil, the page in front of me brought back those memories. At which point I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to have a calendar or notebook reminiscent of that quintessential back to school activity?

What you see is the result. It’s what my books would look like if I wrapped them in Kraft paper today, though I opted for grid paper. It’s cheerier.

On a side note, we were first given paper planners in sixth grade as we entered middle school. I carried one all through college until I swapped the paper version for digital in my early twenties. A few years ago, I augmented my digital tracking with a paper planner from @golden.coil.

I can’t remember the last time I used a hashtag! Here ya go. #GCxlimited26 by @speakingofenergy

8

6

2 days ago

I mentioned the other day that I’m listening to The Screwtape Letters while I stitch. There’s a very specific reason. Having read the book a year or so ago, I wanted to revisit a point that C.S. Lewis elucidates.

One of the ways that evil keeps us occupied — be it the Devil, demons, aliens, or his other minions — is to throw up hurdles to distract us. We exert effort into a fight that detracts from our actual path.

On the other hand, another technique is to convince us that a fight isn’t worthwhile, and our time should be allocated elsewhere. The ultimate hypnosis is to have us spinning our wheels wondering into which camp an adversary, or adversarial ideal, falls.

I ponder this when weighing where I wish to exert my energy. It’s not lost on me that I have a special knack for exposing the rot within the spiritual and new age landscape as I pull back the curtain on the never ending list of charlatans. However, constant focus on the ills of the world sucks. It drains me and steals my focus from creating things that bring joy, whatever form that takes.

So how does one find a balance? If I leave the ills of the world for others to tackle, society becomes a significantly less desirable place in which to live. That’s not ideal. I’m not willing to sit back and watch socialism or communism or Marxism take hold. I know my voice makes an impact in this fight and that the Devil would like nothing more than for me to go on sabbatical.

I don’t believe there’s one fixed approach or even a consistent one that works day in or day out. Dismantling and creation are both paramount. All of the points intersect. The last thing I want to become is a grump who only sees the glass as half empty and filled with mold. At that point, evil has already won. by @speakingofenergy

2

0

4 days ago

On my shortlist of activities that inch us closer to full dystopia, you will not find turnkey surveillance. The idea of separate databases seamlessly mapping to each other is laughable, ask anyone who has ever participated in a data migration.

A far more concerning reality already exists.

Entertain this scenario. You’re pulled over for an innocuous reason. Maybe you were speeding ever so slightly. Perhaps your tail light is out. Whatever the reason, you’re now on the side of the road with a police officer knocking on your window.

When running your plates, the officer discovers that a suspect matching your description is wanted for some heinous offense. The police request your phone records to track your movements from cell tower to cell tower.

Boom. Right to privacy, gone.

We’ve been conditioned to see this interfacing between police and utilities as a positive shift. Name a mainstream procedural that doesn’t solve cases through this means. Somewhere along the line, this perception that this is normal stuck as we abandoned our liberties.

The sense of false security was enough to leave these practices largely unchecked. In a way, the uptick in surveillance overreach is a positive thing. People have started to speak up and push back. by @speakingofenergy

1

0

4 days ago

Start simply. Detail can always be added.

By its very nature, needlepoint abstracts an image. The grid dictates the shape. Rather than fight that, I choose to lean into it.

How can I play with shape and form to create the most basic silhouette that is still recognizable to people in the know? Many of us who have spent years walking the shoreline have this lighthouse etched in our memories. We could find it in the dark — ironic for a lighthouse.

My first sketches reflect the stripping away of detail. I might add elements back in if I crave a pop of color or a slight visual break. Time will tell. For now, I’m quite happy with the current direction. by @speakingofenergy

9

3

4 days ago

Playing with pattern.

From head to paper. This is what I envision for the area above the floral motif.

The selection of markers didn’t provide quite the right options to represent the colors perfectly. Imagination required. In addition to the deep maroon, I’m planning a light to medium pink paired with a cheery mustard.

The little dots on the clipboard make a delightful pattern in their own right. A happy accident.

I have my favorite of the chevron variations. Which one would you pick? Can you spot the differences? by @speakingofenergy

1

0

7 days ago

I walked through a very large spiderweb upon completion of this video. No spiders were harmed.

The middle panel is VERY close to completion. I’ve been staring at my canvas, and it’s been staring back at me. I’m waiting for it to inform me which stitches it needs to complete the last two quadrants.

Do you patiently wait and listen to your canvas? They really will speak if you pay attention.

I’m hesitant to choose two “fluffy” stitches next to each other. Will they compete? Test swatches might be in order. That might lead to stitching through the whole of Emma Homent’s (@themakersmarks) books. It actually ties quite nicely into another project I have up my sleeve.

While I’m waiting for my canvas to answer, the sketches for the top and bottom sections are migrating from my head to the page. Stay tuned. Color choices are also in the near future.

📚 Needlepoint & Next Level Needlepoint by Emma Homent (@themakersmarks) by @speakingofenergy

89

14

8 days ago

I forgot how to wash my hands. I suppose it’s less forgetting and more that the process simply failed to work.

I stared down at them, soapy fingers interlocked above the sink. Water running. The face in the mirror looked back at me with the left side curled in spasm. Her expression said, this again?

Enough time passed that they decided they were willing to participate again. There’s a strangeness to life in a body that I cannot anticipate or control. After all these years, it still surprises me.

I often mention putting one foot in front of the other or taking life moment by moment. There’s humor in that when the body parts don’t work. It’s how I stay sane.

Waves of abject fear occur periodically. The shutdowns when I’m trapped inside my own body unable to move or communicate remain scary. A paradox occurs. Freaking out exacerbates all symptoms. So even in those moments when I’m terrified, I can’t be — which is not to say I don’t embrace the fear. See, paradox.

The trick is letting the emotions roll over me so that they clear. I’m not a fan of putting on a brave face and pretending that everything is hunkydory when it is not. That does more harm than good. I also refuse to stew in my own misery.

This is the hand I’ve been dealt. I may not shoot the moon, but I can win a few tricks.

Look at me committing to a single metaphor. by @speakingofenergy

4

1

9 days ago

With all of this talk of Anne Hathaway, I thought I should pull this out of my highlights and onto the grid. May 2026, meet October.

cover image | Getty Images by @speakingofenergy

4

0

11 days ago

Plucked from the May 2026 archives! This falls into the grander scope of current discussions so I didn’t want it buried in my highlights.

cover image | Met Gala Red Carpet (2026) by @speakingofenergy

7

0

11 days ago

For the time being, these squishy blue objects are tucked in a box labeled ‘Tis a Puzzlement. Most everything that I’ve excavated from my mom’s quilting closet has been readily identifiable, much of it a hoot.

These guys have me stumped. As you can see by the bag, there are a lot of them. I’m sure a reverse image search would readily answer this question, but where’s the fun in that? I would rather elicit wrong answers on the internet or hilarious ways to use them.

So… what are these? by @speakingofenergy

82

20

11 days ago