Keepers of the Sheep is an interesting newish book which I believe is self-published by the author, Irene Waggener. The author worked with people from a village (Timloukine) in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco to learn about their knitting traditions and their culture, and came away with a wealth of information. The book is probably as much about the region’s culture as it is about knitting. As many of the people make a living as shepherds, knitting and sheep are intertwined with a lot of daily life.
There is not a huge number of patterns in the book, and they are not very ornate by and large. There are a lot of sock patterns, and a lot of discussion about older and newer ways of making socks in the community. Most of the patterns are exactly as they would be knitted by the community members, and some the author embellished a bit, inspired by local decorative motifs. She is always careful to say when something is as it would be knitted there or when she has altered it in some way.
One really distinctive garment from this area is knitted striped pants, which you do get the pattern for.
Although the book focuses on the community the author worked with, she does discuss the broader knitting culture of Morocco and north Africa in general. She also does talk a bit about the history of knitting in this area, and speculates a bit about historical connections with other knitting traditions.
I would definitely recommend Keepers of the Sheep for anyone who is interested in world knitting traditions or knitting history. It is very well written and well illustrated with good photographs and charts for patterns when they are needed. Another thing to recommend it – the author notes that as requested by the shepherds she worked with, she is donating a portion of the proceeds from the book to the women’s cooperative in the community. The women’s cooperative will use the funds for community development projects. I found it a fascinating read, and definitely plan to try out a couple of the patterns! The book, as well as wool from the women’s cooperative in Timloukine, can be purchased from the author’s Etsy shop, 106 Meters from the Road.
Quite A Yarn 
This looks lovely, is there quite a lot of text in the book or is it more sparse like the photographed pages imply?
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is a lot of text. There are quite a few pages with nothing but text. I was just trying to show a few example pages, and all text pages don’t look quite so interesting in photos 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That looks fascinating! I will check it out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was thinking of you the entire time I was reading it. She got started on this journey as she was in the area looking into the possibility of working with the women’s cooperative to sell their yarn. And her interest started from there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an interesting book. I am intrigued by the construction of those socks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She shows a couple different construction methods that have been in use in the area, If you are interested in sock construction, it is a pretty fascinating read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the maths involved in sock knitting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is interesting!
LikeLike
How interesting to read about how other knitters knit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely!
LikeLike
This sounds like a really interesting read. I’ve favorited her etsy shop and I’m going to try to keep from buying her book until at least tomorrow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read about it in Janine Bajus’s newsletter, and it was one of those things where i go from not knowing something exists to absolutely needing it in about 15 minutes. Im currently trying not to buy any of their yarn. Its probably going to happen, though
LikeLike
The price on their yarn made me want to buy some. You should get some to knit from the book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol! Enabler! That’s exactly what i was thinking too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh sounds so interesting and those socks look so lovely, I’ll go have a look 🤔😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is very interesting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an interesting book! I just love books like that and already have too many ethnic knitting books in my collection, but now I find that I may need one more. Thank you so much for sharing your bookshelf!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have way too many also, but it is just so interesting! Their knitting culture is very different from ours, and I really enjoyed the read 🙂 If you do get it, I hope you enjoy it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful book review, those socks look wonderful and useful, I might not go for the knitted stripped pants though 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Likewise 🙂 I bet they are very warm, but don’t onow that i could carry off the look.
LikeLiked by 1 person