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Notes:
maintained excellent health
taught Sunday School and milked cows until 94
had hyacinth blue eyes that seemed even bluer as he got into his nineties
his first school was Charlottesville in Norfolk county (where his brother
Hiram had taught previously)
was a Sunday School superintendent Case United Church
a statement by Edward Lowden date Aug 15 1981 says his father lost his farm
in Glanford township about 1892 during a severe depression
Grandfather's Gloves - Betty Lowden (Audet)- written at an Elderhostel in
October 1997
My grandfather, Milton Lowden, had a very unusual skill for a man; he
crocheted gloves. Every winter, between milkings, he sat on the kitchen couch,
the big east window behind him, with his wool and wooden crochet hooks in his
hands. It may have been cold and snowy outside, but it was cozy in the kitchen
and he could observe life going on in the family, even though he could not
hear well. His Bible and Sunday School book sat on the sill behind him and
could occasionally be exchanged for the wool. Children could come and settle
beside him for a time. Later in the day, when the newspaper had arrived, he
would take them on his lap to hear him read the comics.
The wool was often grey; for that was a neutral colour that went with nearly
all coats. He found a darker colour hard on his eyes and felt that he could
not work on it after dark. But the grey permitted him to continue after the
light; beside the window was switched on.
Round and round the glove the crochet hook went. It was a hook unlike the
modern metal or plastic hooks used by women. It was carved by himself from a
hard wood. The handle was somewhat flattened and the hook curved so that the
sides of it were also flattened. As he crocheted the increased stitches had to
be in just the right place to fit the hand as the base of the thumb widened
it. Suitable sized hands had to be provided occasionally to see if it was the
time to start the thumb itself, when additional stitches were chained in to
provide a back to the thumb. When the thumb was long enough, about the base of
the nail, it was time to narrow off the thumb to a Unmarried stitch through
which the wool was pulled, leaving a long tag to be sewn in later.
Then it was back to the hand section, round and round, until that too was
measured to the point of introducing the stitches to start the little finger.
Each finger was added, tested on a hand for length, until the glove was
complete. When it was time for a new cuff, to start another glove, he might knit it
himself, although he found that laborious. More likely Mother knit another
cuff for him, leaving him to shift the stitches off the steel needles as he
began to crochet.
Not only the whole family benefitted from his work, but distant relatives,
friends, and many a service man had a warm pair of gloves during World War II.
I still have (1997), tucked away in a cedar chest, one pair of maroon gloves
that matched the winter coat that I wore to university. It is a lovely souvenir of past
love.
My grandfather had learned to handle wool when he was still a child in the
1850s. He had not been well and was often at home with his aunts. They taught
him to card and spin. A little later in life he handled the sheep for
shearing. Eventually he could move the wool from the sheep's backs to a useful
article of clothing.
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