Stitching in the evening: light, screen and dark mode to rest your eyes
Many people stitch in the evening, once the day is done. But in dim light eyes tire faster, chart symbols blur together and thread colours look different from daytime. A little setup makes evening stitching much calmer.
Light on the work
- A dedicated lamp. The room's ceiling light is almost always too weak for fine work. You need a lamp that shines straight onto the fabric.
- Cooler than for reading. Neutral or "daylight" light is closer to how threads look by day and helps you tell similar shades apart.
- No glare. Place the lamp on the side of your free hand (on the left if you're right-handed) and slightly behind you, so your stitching hand's shadow doesn't fall on the fabric and the light doesn't shine in your eyes.
- Magnification. A magnifier on a stand or close-work glasses take the strain off dark fabrics and fine counts.
The screen with your chart
- Brightness to match the room. A very bright screen in a dark room is tiring. Set the brightness so the screen is no brighter than the lamp over your work.
- Night mode shifts colours. Evening adjustment makes the screen warmer, and the colour swatches in the key shift with it. Go by the thread number, not the colour — more in "Screen colour vs thread colour".
- Bigger. Zoom the chart until symbols read without strain, and move around it instead of squinting.
Dark theme
A dark theme makes the app's background dark. In the evening, in a dim room, it glares less and is easier on the eyes. By day many people prefer the light theme. Try both and keep the one that makes the chart easier to read.
Crossette has a light and a dark theme — for day and for evening. And so you don't lose your place when zoomed in on a big chart, there's "Go to square", rulers and a minimap — see "How not to get lost in a big chart".
Breaks
Every half hour to an hour, look up from your work and focus on something far away. Short sessions work too — see "Stitching in short sessions".
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].