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'More than just a yarn store:' Elora's Yarnbird closing its doors after three decades (6 photos)

Yardbird brought community members together and built lifelong friendships

She ran her small yarn store along the bank of the Grand River in Elora for over three decades, spanning her time as a nurse, a wife, a mother and a grandmother.

Like Marlene Pascoe's own life, Yarnbird touched the lives of many over that time. It wasn’t just a store, it was a staple in the heart of town, a place where locals gathered, chatted and developed lifelong friendships.

Now 82, Pascoe is ready to close up her shop and officially retire at the end of May.

“I'm going to miss all the people,” said Pascoe during a visit.

Visiting the store on an average day, you would see people stop by to say hello to Pascoe, a familiar face and humble woman.

“I just love talking to people, especially people that are interested in knitting. And I'm a fanatic for knitting for sure,” said Pascoe about what kept her in the store for so many years.

Locals talk about the incredible human being she is, a woman who went above and beyond for her community. 

“If she knows you need something, you know she's there, and she's very generous to a fault,” said Marilyn Jones, a customer who met Pascoe 11 years ago. 

“She's just an unbelievably caring person and that's how we just got to be really good friends. And you know, that's what she's like with so many people.”

Jones, also a retired nurse, was in a wheelchair when she first entered Yarnbird after she got into an accident and was looking to keep herself busy. 

To help Jones, Pascoe would deliver knitting items directly to her house. 

“She would bring me patterns with matching yarn and spread it all out in my living room and I could pick what I wanted, and knit because that was what kept me sane,” said Jones. 

“She said 'Oh don't worry about paying me, you can pay me another time,' and she would go to all this trouble to essentially help me.”

Jones said Yarnbird was a little social hub not just for knitters but for everyone in the community. 

Pascoe began knitting at the age of four, then knit for her kids, her grandkids and people in the neighbourhood. Originally from Collingwood, she worked as a nurse for 50 years in various cities including Toronto, Elora, Fergus and Guelph.  

When living in the countryside years ago, she saw an advertisement in the newspaper calling for knitters. After a day or two knitting patterns for the owner, she was offered a job at the store. So she worked there for eight years while working as a nurse. And then she quit her job as a nurse to purchase Yarnbird in 1988. 

In that time she immersed herself in the community. She ran knitting classes, began social clubs and would hit the road for live classes without charging a dime. 

People would get together and knit whatever they felt like. Ones who didn’t know how to knit would learn, and ones who forgot would brush up on their skills.

“It was very casual. And if somebody had a problem, we'd say, 'Okay, come on over here and see how you do this. And this is how you do this,'” said Pascoe. 

She says either you love knitting or you have no interest at all. 

Barb Gooch who has been working at the store for the last seven years says those who say they have no patience to knit, can learn to be patient through the art. And if it's one mistake you make, then it’s one piece of string that you back up and go on with the art. 

“It really annoys me when people say, you know, grannies knit,” said Pascoe. “It kind of annoys me when I hear that.”

Pascoe learned the art from her mother and grandmother. Her grandfather used to make wooden spools with nails tapped into them for corking. 

“And it's usually what you start your child with. The very first thing and I can remember thinking is I'm going to make chair covers for my mom to do maybe this much or maybe this much and that would be a rug,” laughed Pascoe.

Over the years, she’s knitted countless items such as coats, sweaters and skirts for herself. She knit clothes for her son and daughter and tracksuits and mittens for her granddaughters. 

Not only does she describe the art as relaxing but also, rewarding. 

“You can make something very unique that nobody else has,” said Pascoe. “You can either design your own pattern, or you can look at a pattern and say, 'Oh, I'd like that sweater,' When you finish something. It's unique.”

At this point, knitting is muscle memory for her that keeps her relaxed. 

“I can't watch TV without knitting. I'd fall asleep immediately,” said Pascoe. 

Over time, she’s also seen the art revolutionize. The internet is now inundated with information on knitting patterns and techniques that only used to be in books. 

When the summer comes around and crowds flood the streets of Elora, Pascoe sits on her balcony facing the river with a spool and some yarn. 

While she is closing her store in May, she's not quite ready to say goodbye to the hearts she touched over the years. She said while she’s closing the doors, she’s not done just yet. 

“I kept the phone number that I have. It’s the third number that was ever given out in Elora,” said Pascoe. 

"There are lots of people that don't know I've closed, so when they call the number, they'll still be able to talk to me.”


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Anam Khan

About the Author: Anam Khan

Anam Khan is a journalist who covers numerous beats in Guelph and Wellington County that include politics, crime, features, environment and social justice
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