My mother loves to knit, and she especially loves to knit for her grandchildren. A few years ago, she asked my daughter, Nova, if there was anything she would like to have knitted. My daughter said that she would really like a particular sweater from the show Gilmore Girls. Nova and I have watched all the episodes of Gilmore Girls together, so I found it to be a really lovely and meaningful idea. And my mother happily agreed – if I wrote a knitting pattern she could follow. Naturally, I said yes, but it required both reverse engineering, creativity, and a lot of calculations. The final result is the Gilmore Sweater, which is my interpretation of the beautiful, classic cable sweater that Rory wears in the very first episode of Gilmore Girls.

Directions for knitting
The Gilmore Sweater is worked seamlessly from the bottom up. First, the body is worked in the round to the armholes. Then, the back and front are worked separately back and forth with neck shaping to complete the yoke. Then, the shoulder seams are knitted together and bound off. The sleeves are worked from the top down, from stitches that are picked up and knitted around the armhole openings. Short rows are worked across the shoulders, and then the rest of the sleeves are worked in the round with decreases down to the rib. Finally, a rib neck edge with a small rolling edge is worked to match the bottom edge and sleeve edges.

Choosing which size to knit
The Gilmore Sweater is designed to work both with a classic fit (approx. 5-15 cm of positive ease) and with an oversize fit (approx. 20-30 cm of positive ease). For this reason, I have chosen to give the sizes numbers instead of calling them small, medium, large etc.
Choose which size to knit by determining what kind of fit you want, i.e. how much positive ease your final sweater should have. If you need help figuring this out, try measuring a top or sweater that fits the way you would like your Gilmore Sweater to fit and choose the size that is closest to having the same bust circumference.

In the photos, the light sweater is worn with approx. 26 cm (10¼ inches) of positive ease, and the dark sweater is worn with approx. 5 cm (2 inches) of positive ease.

Sizes
1 (2) 3 (4) 5 (6) 7

Measurements
Bust circumference: 104 (110) 116 (127) 138 (150) 161 cm / 41 (43¼) 45¾ (50) 54¼ (59) 63½ inches
Total length: 59 (59) 59 (59) 61 (61) 61 cm / 23¼ (23¼) 23¼ (23¼) 24 (24) 24 inches
Sleeve length (measured from bottom of armhole): 42 (43) 44 (44) 45 (45) 46 cm / 16½ (17) 17¼ (17¼) 17¾ (17¾) 18 inches

Gauge
14 sts and 22 rows in double seed stitch on a 5.5 mm (US9) circular needle with 1 strand of Heavy Merino and 1 strand of Soft Silk Mohair held together (after wash and blocking) = 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 inches)
Note that the gauge changes with wash and blocking. The cable sections really pull together before being washed but the double seed stitch also changes. Make sure to wash and dry your swatch before taking measurements.

One repeat of the Chart for Body measures approx. 45 cm (17¾ inches) width-wise and 17 cm (6¾ inches) height-wise after wash and blocking

One repeat of the Chart for Sleeve measures approx. 24 cm (9½ inches) width-wise and 13.5 cm (5¼ inches) height-wise after wash and blocking

Yarn
450 (450) 500 (500) 550 (600) 650 g Heavy Merino by Knitting for Olive (100% merino; 125 m pr. 50 g)
125 (125) 125 (125) 150 (150) 175 g Soft Silk Mohair by Knitting for Olive (70% kid mohair, 30% silk; 225 m pr. 25 g)

Needles
5.5 mm (US9), 40, 60 and 80 or 100 cm (16, 24 and 32 or 40 inches) circular needles

Notions
Cable needle
3 stitch markers
Stitch holders
1 wool needle for weaving in ends