I love a seamed sweater. Even though I also love sweaters that have been worked seamlessly, my favorite and longest-lasting garments are typically the ones that have been knit in separate pieces and seamed together.
Here's why you should try knitting a sweater that will be seamed:
Seams add structure to garments. Knitted fabric is notoriously soft and stretchy. Adding seams keeps our sweaters in shape for years.
Shoulder seams (especially) keep a sweater sturdy. All of the weight of our sweaters rests on the shoulders and back neck. Having bound off edges that are then seamed adds a level of protection against popped or pulled stitches that seamless (or grafted) shoulders don't have.
3. Knitting sweaters in separate pieces is more portable than working a sweater in one piece. Knitting travels better in smaller pieces, so you can bring just the back or a sleeve of a sweater to a football game and not take up an entire extra seat with your knitting. (PRO TIP: bring 3 different projects with you if you want to take up an extra seat when you're knitting in public)
4. Knitting sweaters in separate pieces makes adjusting for size and fit much easier. If you discover the width of a "flat" sweater isn't right as you're knitting, you're only ripping one piece out to fix it. If the width of a "circular" sweater isn't right, you're ripping an entire yoke or both the front and back to get on track.
5. Seaming isn't that hard! In my humble opinion, the best seam for sweaters is Mattress Stitch. One of my favorite classes to teach is Knitwear Finishing, because students are always blown away by how nice seams can look and how easy it is to recognize your stitches as you seam.
Curious to learn more about seaming? I've put together a 4-part series on YouTube where I seam a sweater start-to-finish on camera. You'll see how I seam shoulders, set-in sleeves, and sew side and sleeve seams. In the last video of the series, I set a hood into the neckline and weave in a few tails, too.
Video 1: Seaming the Shoulders and a discussion about materials
Video 2: Setting in a set-in sleeve
Video 3: Seaming the side and sleeve seams
Video 4: Setting in the hood and weaving in ends