Cara Cannon loves to knit. Inside a small shop at 297 Prince Ave. in Athens, you can find Cannon behind the counter, rearranging shelves filled with yarn of all colors. Cannon currently spends her days managing Revival Yarns, the local Athens yarn shop that she co-founded in 2014 with Lindsay Woodson. This year, they are still growing and continuing to make their dream into a reality. This local yarn shop is an embodiment of Cannon’s passion, a tribute to her childhood and the woman she is today.
Inside the small yarn shop you can find shelves upon shelves filled with all types of yarn, from lace to worsted. Cannon’s devotion towards knitting can be traced back to her childhood Thanksgiving holidays spent with her family. Ten-year-old Cara was taught to knit by her aunt, and that was just the beginning. Every year at Thanksgiving, Cara would reunite with her aunt, and they would complete a new knitting project. Now, years later, the tradition has grown into something bigger, something that allows her passion of knitting to be shared with everyone in her community. The birth of Revival Yarns opened a realm of possibilities for the love of knitting to grow. Cannon is an individual who has turned her biggest passion into her reality. She has managed to turn her love for knitting into Revival Yarns by keeping it alive and by surrounding herself with those who have the same hobby.
Cannon learned to create using a needle and yarn; her journey to now all began with a simple knit stitch. This is a woman whose journey to her career has unfolded in an indirect way, from working as a kindergarten teacher to owning her own cake business. It is a journey that has not been easy, and it certainly has not been direct. It has not been easy to turn the loose yarn into neat little stitches. The ride has been bumpy. Originally a Georgia native, Cara has reached full circle, coming back to her home from Texas, where she resided for a short amount of time.
Cannon’s bigger-than-life ambitions are one thing Woodson has noticed in her friend for the past seven years: “She is unwavering in her faith to the yarn shop, in her dedication to our customers and her love for her family and friends. You can always count on her.”
Woodson and Cannon met in a knitting group seven years ago in February 2013. Their earliest memories involve chatting amongst their neighbors while knitting in a cozy living room. It was in those monthly neighborhood knit nights that the idea of Revival Yarns was born, according to Woodson. “We barely knew each other when we decided to go into business together, and somehow it worked. We made a great team and even great friends.”
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