If you live near Lake Minnetonka, cast on and spend a day cozied up by the fireplace at Excelsior’s Lakeside Yarn.
Owner Cynthia Flaa Cushing learned to knit at age 27 after a major car accident left her with a broken back and a lot of downtime. Her passion for the craft grew alongside her budding law career. When she was widowed at a young age—then a mom of 4-year-old twins and a 7-year-old—she took time off to focus on family. It was a part-time job at a yarn store near her home in Des Plaines, Ill., that inspired her to switch careers for good in 2004.
“It was an interesting job transition—you get to use the right and left side of your brain, which is awesome,” says Cushing. The self-proclaimed “recovering attorney” grew up in Tonka Bay and now calls the community home again. In 2010, she purchased Lakeside Yarn—then Coldwater Collaborative—on Water Street in Excelsior.
“Knitting is an oral tradition. The idea of formal [written] knitting instruction is pretty new,” says Cushing. “Today you can buy yarn online. You can get instruction anywhere—there’s ravelry.com and podcasts—but brick-and-mortar yarn stores are where you build community.”
Lakeside Yarn offers a plethora of colorful, textural, artsy products—some fashion-forward and some traditional—at a variety of price points. A homey fireplace, couches and a coffee pot welcome visitors, with a large project table where knitters can linger and work. It seems there’s always a gaggle of crafters hanging around the shop, ready to weigh in on a color choice or guide rookie needles through slipped stitches.
Despite the repetitive, prescribed nature of knitting, there’s a level of freedom inherent in the art. There’s been an explosion of natural-fiber and accessory producers, bloggers, and knitting artists in recent years. The patterns and possibilities are endless—and can sometimes be paralyzing. “Sometimes I tell them, ‘It’s only knitting, guys,” says Cushing.
“There’s community and continuity—as much as you want. You can zip in and pick up yarn or get advice,” says Pattie Tattersall, an Excelsior resident and loyal customer. She’s been married for 55 years and is now a grandmother eight times over. She remembers rushing to finish a knitting project for her husband as a newlywed. Ten years ago, she rekindled her love for knitting as she searched for a project to bring along for a Florida getaway. “I was so taken by the colors and possibilities,” she says.
Lakeside offers classes and events that cater to every level of skill and commitment. Thursday night is a social Open Knit—aka “Knit Night”—where people gather and share food potluck-style.
“Everybody is coming to us from a different place,” says Cushing. “There are healing, reparative and creative aspects to knitting.” The Twin Cities, she says, is home to one of the largest knitting scenes in the country. Cushing has also noticed an increase in the number of younger knitters coming into the store. One local school even allows students to knit during story time—by keeping their hands busy, kids’ minds can focus.
“There’s a quietness to it. Some of the ladies I know get up at 4 a.m. with a cup of coffee to knit, to think, to pray,” says Tattersall. “I go [to Lakeside Yarn], and I’m allowed to engage. There’s a sense of acceptance as well as help. It feels like I’m sitting around my mother’s kitchen table.”
Visit Lakeside Yarn at 347 Water St. in Excelsior, or check out their summer pop-up shop in Crosslake, Minn. Find more information on their website or facebook page.
