“It was my happy place,” WildFibers Owner Brooke Jones says, gazing fondly at the colorful skeins of yarn and beautifully-knitted sample garments that surround us. “My birthday trip would be to come to WildFibers by myself, so I could be here for a long time…and at one point, I just asked [then-owner Sarah Parker]: ‘is there ever any need of someone very part-time?’”
Photograph by Anne Godenham
So began Jones’ tenure at the downtown Mount Vernon yarn shop: as a customer, a creative, and a community-hungry new knitter whose kids had recently started school and opened up her schedule.
First opened by Parker in 2005, the store quickly became a beacon of inventory and connection for the region’s many avid fiber artists—they primarily serve knitters and crocheters, but they also host group gatherings that are open to all.
“The community is wonderful,” Jones says. “People are so supportive and happy to have a yarn shop here. I have people who visit every year, who come to see family, and they make a point of coming in every time to see us. It’s wonderful, that community of craft, crafters, and creativity; you certainly develop relationships with people, and it’s a close-knit group.”
Photograph by Anne Godenham
After working there as an employee for five years, her hours steadily increasing as her own schedule and Parker’s needs fluctuated, Jones was offered the opportunity to take over the yarn store.
“It was a dream of mine,” she says, but she never thought it would actually happen. “It was this sort of pie in the sky, ‘how would that ever come to be?’”
And yet, it did. Sarah was ready for her next chapter and Jones was ready for the challenge, and in 2022 the store officially changed hands. But Jones hasn’t changed much about the business itself—it already provided so much joy to so many people, including herself.
Photograph by Anne Godenham
Not that Jones doesn’t have goals for the shop. She’s a creative, after all—she started in visual arts as a painter, and now she gets her color and design kicks knitting stranded color work, also known as Fair Isle. It’s on stunning display in the sweater she’s wearing during our conversation.
“[It’s tricky to strike] a balance between all the things you have to do compared to all the things you want to do,” she says, adding that she’d love to do some yarn-dyeing in-house in the future.
Photograph by Anne Godenham
For the moment, though, WildFibers stands firm as a resource for knitters and crocheters of all experience levels. Not only do they sell an enormous range of yarns, needles, books, and patterns (some of which have been made into samples so customers can see, touch, and discuss their options in person), but the knowledgeable staff is also always happy to offer advice and support.
“Dive in [at] the deep end,” Jones says when I ask if she has any advice for people who are considering taking up knitting or crochet. “I think sometimes people can talk themselves out of it—it feels daunting…[But] there’s so many awesome resources now: if you’re a visual learner, you can watch a YouTube video, [or] you can take a private lesson with us…[Just] be willing to take the risk and make a mistake, because the worst that can happen is you have to back up and do it again, and spend time doing something you’re enjoying.” 706 S. 1st St., Mount Vernon, 360.336.5202, wildfibers.net
