This year, like each one before, we are thankful to our instructors and students for another great season of classes and studio weeks!
How heartwarming to look back through last year’s photos and remember the learning, the beautiful work and the shared experiences of 2024.
We are thankful beyond words for the 14 years Patricia Hewitt worked in the Sievers Shop. Just a few weeks ago, we wished Pat a fond farewell as she moved to northern Wisconsin to live near her son. With her wealth of knitting and wool knowledge, she guided us in many of our yarn choices for the shop. Pat expertly offered advice and assistance to many customers. We will miss all she brought to Sievers, including her cheerful laugh, as well as the special touches made in our own daily lives.
This is an excerpt from the poem, “Let Us Give Thanks” by Max Coots which has been read on occasion at the end of a Sievers class. It is especially appropriate at this time of year.
Let us give thanks
For a bounty of people:
For generous friends with hearts and smiles bright as their blossoms;
For feisty friends as tart as apples;
For handsome friends, as gorgeous as eggplants
And as elegant as a row of corn;
And the others, plain as potatoes and as good for you.
For friends unpretentious as cabbages, subtle as summer squash,
Persistent as parsley, delightful as dill, endless as zucchini,
And who, like parsnips, can be counted on
To see you throughout the winter;
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening time;
And for young friends, comin’ on fast as radishes;
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us,
Despite our blights.
And finally, for those now gone, like gardens past, long since harvested,
Who fed us in their time that we might have life thereafter.
For all these we give thanks.
We are thankful for you, our Sievers friends and family!
That is a beautiful message! I will save it. Thanks so much, Cheena
Thanks Cheena, we’re glad for that. Happy Thanksgiving to you! Love from all of us.
Oh Carolyn, you write so beautifully and with your kind heart have captured the essence of thankfulness. Max Coots’ poem is delightful and timely. When parsnips were mentioned, I thought of my dearest dad who loved that vegetable!
Each day at Sievers was wonderful. My memories are many and the years there were some of the best in my life. I do indeed give thanks.
Dear Pat, Thank you for your kind words! I hope you’ll continue to be a “yarn scout” for us and I know we’ll be staying in touch. Parsnips are one of our favorites, too. Slow roasted with carrots and potatoes…yum! Love from all your Sievers family and blessings to you always, Carolyn
Hi Pat!
I am so surprised you have moved from the island! I wish you the best and want to let you know I am loving my English Springer that I got here in Spain as a result of knowing your dog! Willy is a great boy! I wish you could meet him! Enjoy the north country!
Thanks, Sandy. I’ve passed your message along to Pat. Kindred spirits in knitting and pets!
A lovely poem, indeed.
Thank you, Carolyn!
Thanks, Aina! A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. We miss seeing you. Someday…
Carolyn and Ann
Thanks for your beautiful wrap-up for the Sievers season, Carolyn. I was very happy to be part of it, via the Willow Basket class with Jo. (That Max Coots reading came to Sievers via folksinger Claudia Schmidt at one of her Red Barn programs I attended years ago. I agree, it’s perfect for this time of year!) Warmest wishes to Pat in her new home and to Sievers for your next season, Cindra
Thank you Cindy! That poem is a “Sievers Classic” and thanks to you for sharing it many of those times at the end of class. One reason we love it is that it’s so down to earth, plain and elegant at the same time. Love and hugs from your Sievers family!
Yes, what a great wrap up to summarize Sievers and 2024. Love the poem-I’d never heard it before. We miss Cindra in the shop and now we will miss Pat as well. Best wishes on your next journey, Pat. Rest up over the winter Sievers, and be ready for 2025!
Thanks, Judy! I think that poem was primarily read for classes in late September into October, due to the harvest theme. We certainly miss Cindra and will now miss Pat as well. We were lucky to have them here, sharing their talents with all of us for so many years. We will take your advice and rest up for 2025. It will be here before we know it! Happy Thanksgiving from all of us, Carolyn
Thanks for the additional info about the poem and tie to Claudia Schmidt. I have printed it out to keep and treasure. Jeanie Wilcox
Hi Jeanie, If you look up the author online, you can see all the words to the poem. It is a treasure! Take care, Carolyn and Ann
What a beautiful poem. Thank you for creating the wonderful space that is Sievers. Wishing you a peaceful Thanksgiving.
Thank you, Sue! We wish you the same and look forward to seeing you again in 2025! Take care, Carolyn and Ann
We are all gatherers and makers. That is our community!❤️
You are so right, Kay! It’s a thread that holds all Sievers students and instructors together.
The poem is thoughtful and beautiful. The photos are gorgeous (those colors!). Even better is the spirit at Sievers, a mix of friendliness, empathy and creativity, supported with efficiency to make it all happen. Thank you all for being there (and to Cindra and Pat for having given so much time and energy over so many years). I add to the many hundreds who have declared Sievers an Island treasure.
What a beautiful sentiment, Barbara, thank you! We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! Carolyn and Ann