I have been a Firefly fan from the very first time I watched it, and “Our Mrs. Reynolds” is one of my all time favorite episodes. I don’t remember the first time I noticed the shawl that Saffron was wearing, when Mal finds her as a stowaway, but the more I looked at it, the more I wanted to knit one.

So, after watching bits and pieces of the of the episode, with needles in hand, I think I finally got the lace just right. It is a very nice chevron pattern, and I know what you’re thinking… “But, I’ve seen a lot of lacy chevron patterns!” I know, I know, but this one is different! It has a cute little V-shaped hole at the tip of each chevron. But, the thing is, yo’s are round, and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t add a yo to the top of a lace point without it being just a little off kilter. (Try it, you will see what I mean.) What I needed was a great, big, loopy, V-shaped, stitch! Nothing was working until I tried an extended st, then ta-da, a perfect little V! And, It looked just like the screen shots of the episode, I was so excited.

As for the pattern itself, it is an intermediate pattern. It assumes that you have an understanding of the normal lace stitches, can work with border stitches, and that you can cast on provisionally and bind off, without further explanation. It uses a couple techniques that go beyond normal lace (extended sts, and knitting in the st below) but once you get rolling, it is a very relaxing pattern to work on.

The instructions are fully written with standard abbreviations, and a chart is included for the main body of the shawl, though you will have to work a couple lines of written pattern at the beginning and end.

Gauge is not important, because the size of the shawl is completely adjustable. You can chose any yarn you like, just use needles that give you a loose but not loopy fabric.

Worsted or aran weight yarn make a lace that is about the same size as Saffron’s original.

If you have any questions, or need help with any of the techniques, just send me a PM and I will help however I can.