The character of Kirk Gleason, played by actor Sean Gunn, was inspired by creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s own father, Don Sherman, an actor and writer appearing on many well-known shows playing bit parts. While Gunn was originally cast for only one episode as a DSL installer named Mick, another small part came up as a swan delivery man, and he was cast once more. Sherman-Palladino thought it would be funny to continue to cast him in bit roles, soon making him a regularly featured permanent resident of Stars Hollow. Kirk is the youngest of twelve children. His eccentric ways, controlling mother, constant need to please Taylor Doose, intense night terrors, and entrepreneurship (creating his own hay-based skin care product line, or T-shirts with quotes from fellow residents) cemented his place as a fan favorite—ranking him #1 out of all Stars Hollow Townies in an Entertainment Weekly poll. Gunn says his character “became kind of part of the fabric of the town,” and “I think you’re always going to have a huge section of people in the audience who either know someone like Kirk or they feel like Kirk themselves sometimes. Everybody can relate to that feeling that, ‘I’m having one of those days where I’m not doing anything right.’ And Kirk feels like that all the time. He wants so desperately to do the right thing and to be loved and respected, but he just can’t seem to get it right.”

Working up as quickly as one of Kirk’s hairbrained ideas, this pillow begins with a provisional, or temporary, cast on, and is worked in the round seamlessly. The top and bottom edges are left open while “Babette ate oatmeal”—or your favorite phrase from Stars Hollow—is duplicate stitched onto the front. Access from both open ends makes the stitching an easier process. A pillow is then stuffed inside, and both the top and bottom openings are grafted together.