I’m kind of conflicted when it comes to seams and sweaters. I understand logically that seams are important. They bring stability to a piece, can help it hold its shape through washing and wearing, and can be used to add a decorative element to a piece of knitting.

But I also understand that seaming is not a lot of fun. So I tend to limit the number of seams in my projects, for instance by knitting the body from the bottom up, seaming the shoulders and then working the sleeve from the top down.

Audrey Knight is working through an idea to make a seamless project more stable, and I’m really interested to see how it turns out. So far she’s talked about casting on for a top-down sweater in the middle of the neckline so that, like a bottom up or pieced sweater, there’s a bound off (well, cast on, here) edge where stitches are picked up and knit from to finish the neckline.

It’s a really interesting concept and it certainly should add more stability to the neckline.

I look forward to seeing how it all turns out!

What do you think about seams in sweaters? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo via AudKnits.]