Sewing sweater parts together...

[Momma_Jo]

I'm almost done with the body and sleeves of my sweater, so tonight I'll be sewing all the parts together...I've never done this before, so I'm not sure what's the best way. Should I just thread yarn through the openings in the side stitches, or should I actually pass my needle through the yarn in those stitches, thus breaking the yarn? It seems like the second option would provide for tighter and less mobile stitches, which is probably a good thing...but what do I know? Tips?

[Jan in CA]

The mattress stitch is what is usually used for sewing pieces together.

Scroll down to finishing/seaming section.
Mattress Stitch

And check here for more.
Knitty - seaming

[Momma_Jo]

That seems easy....but I bet I won't be able to actually do it tonight once I'm home alone with no computer.

[Momma_Jo]

Ok, I tried it Friday night - the sides of my garment look NOTHING like the stitches shown in either the video or any of the knitting books I have at home. It seems like they all expect you to be knitting in stockinette or garter, but I'm knitting in double moss, and also have some sections where the stitches are bound off on the sides (for armholes). I know I knit right (been to the LYS to have my work checked), so it's not like I'm making funny stitches or anything.
I ended up just sewing everything together whatever way I felt would look best. The seams are visible, but I don't mind it too much, since it's a fairly chunky knit with a lot of visual detail.

[knitqueen]

:thinking: Mattress stitch should be invisible, regardless of what stitch pattern the majority of your project has been worked in.

I know you've already seamed it, but for future reference I wonder if the illustrations for 'joining shoulder seams' on this page would be more helpful.

[Momma_Jo]

My next sweater is going to be just plain garter stitch all over (I needed a break from all those cables, bobbles, and whatever else I had on my most recent sweater), so I think it will be easier to figure out this time.