Bad lighting can make your stitching seem difficult and really strain your eyes, so this week’s question is an important one.

I’ve been doing needlepoint and cross-stitch for over 30 years but now that I have older eyes I don’t see as well at night to work on my projects so would like some recommendations on the best lighting or lighting attachments to use so I can work into the night. What do you use, recommend?

This is a great question and I would love to hear from some other stitchers on the topic as well. When it comes to lighting Ott-Lite seems to be the standard of best, but they’re quite expensive, so I honestly just put full spectrum light bulbs in the whole house.

You can just go to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a package of regular looking light bulbs that capture a fuller spectrum of light than the “standard bulb” and it helps a lot. I’ve never used an Ott light, so I can’t really compare, but so far the spectrum style bulbs are working for me.

(They might not be true full spectrum, but I guess they are “more” or “most of” spectrum) On a side note, the fuller spectrum light bulbs make a great improvement on everyone’s mood as well!

If you decide to go with an Ott-Lite there are several styles available from floor lamps (See all Lamps & Light Fixtures) to portable lamps that you can put in your bag, so you can choose whatever works best for your stitching situation.

I hope that helps shed some light on things

Happy Stitching!