How not to get lost in a big chart: finding your place on paper and on screen
In a small chart you find your place at a glance. In a big one — hundreds of squares wide and high — it's easy to slip: stitch a row in the wrong place, mix up neighbouring pages, lose where you stopped yesterday. Here are ways to keep your bearings.
Count in tens
On a chart every tenth grid line is usually thicker. That's your main landmark: count in 10 × 10 blocks rather than single squares. Find the nearest thick line and count from it — it's much harder to miscount to ten than to forty.
Mark up the fabric
- A grid on the fabric. A fine contrasting thread run every ten squares repeats the chart's thick lines on the fabric itself. You pull it out once the area is stitched.
- The centre. Find the middle of the fabric and the middle of the chart — they're the easiest points to check against at the start.
- Marker. If you use a washable marker, test how it comes out at the edge of the fabric.
Row and column numbers
Many charts number the squares along the margins, usually every ten. When you stop, write down the row and column of your last stitch. Tomorrow you won't have to hunt for your place.
A big chart on screen
On a tablet or phone you see the whole chart, and finding your way works differently:
- Numbered rulers along the edges of the screen show which row and column you're in, even when you're zoomed in a long way.
- Jump to a square by number — enter a row and column, and the chart opens at that spot.
- A minimap — a small view of the whole chart with a frame showing where the current area sits in the full picture.
Crossette has all three: "Go to square", numbered rulers and a minimap. And so you don't have to search after a break, mark what you've stitched: every mark in the app is saved at once. For choosing a device for your chart, see "Stitching from a digital chart".
Pages and overlaps
A paper chart is printed on several sheets, and neighbouring sheets often repeat a few rows — that's the overlap. You stitch the repeated rows once. More on how charts are laid out in "How to read a chart".
About the author
This article was written by the Crossette team. We're building Crossette, a cross stitch tracker for iPhone and iPad. It's in development; to join the beta, email [email protected].