September 2024 update! We’ve re-knit this pattern using our 13th anniversary custom Colorburst colorway from Wonderland Yarns, Contentment on the Cannon. The instructions are the same, except that you will use the Colorburst section of the skein for your assigned pooling stitch.

Our 2024 Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop knit pattern uses the technique of assigned pooling to evoke the characters of Tiến and Hiền from the graphic novel The Magic Fish by Minnesota author Trung Le Nguyen. In the novel, three color palettes (purple/blue, red/pink, and brown/yellow) are used throughout to visually identify three different interwoven themes: the present experiences of the young boy, Tiến, and his mother, Hiền (red); the fairy tales that they share with one another (purple); and the family’s history (yellow).

In this pattern, two colors intermingle in the background of the design, representing their overlapping stories, while the third color is worked into an assigned pooling stitch meant to represent the patches that Hiền uses to lovingly mend Tiến’s clothes. These stitches also show how a mother’s and son’s experiences are bound together by the fairy tales they share. Designer Laura Haave says, “I wanted to create something that I could imagine Tiến wearing with his patched jacket in the book’s cover image. A simple scarf would suit him perfectly, but this design can also be made into a cowl if preferred.”

Whether you choose to make a cowl or a scarf, the pattern is designed to use up an entire skein of fingering-weight yarn. The length of the scarf or cowl can be adjusted to the yardage you have available.