I'm about a half hour drive out, but do all of my big-store shopping in St. Cloud! I've been wishing for a group of knitting companions, no one around here knits at all from what I can tell. Just my local yarn shop lady, and I don't think I could knit with her. My favorite yarn shop is Bonnie's, I got an armload of clearance yarn there a couple of weeks ago! There seem to be lots of good knitting places in St. Cloud.
There's a knitting group that meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Meeting Grounds in Sartell. It just started in September, but it was a lot of fun. I also host a knitting group called the Knits of the Round Table in Avon at Yesterday's Crafts (a yarn shop). But I haven't gotten around to getting it started again this fall because I have been insanely busy. PM me and I'm sure we could get together and knit abit sometime.