KEEPERS OF THE SHEEP






 
What is the history of knitting? This is a difficult question to unravel as evidence for knitting is rare in the archaeological record. To date, the earliest evidence for knitting comes from Egypt. But, despite its possible North African origins, not much has been written about knitting in North Africa. Most of the knitting books available today focus on knitting traditions in Western and Northern Europe where, despite the incursions of fast fashion, hand knitting has maintained a foothold.

However, deep in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, there are a handful of older men who continue to knit socks as their forefathers did stretching back in time possibly to the very beginnings of knitting in North Africa. These knitters are Amazigh shepherds who carry their craft with them as they follow their sheep up and down the mountains. They use wool yarn spun by the women in their families and double pointed needles that they have made themselves.





        In the past, High Atlas knitters made a variety of clothes including pants. Their patterns followed basic formulas that were passed down orally from father to son. Clothes were knit to fit each individual and were measured against bodies and hands. But, fashion changes and factory made clothes are cheap and accessible even in remote valleys. Today, hand knit clothes aren’t used as much as they were in the past, and few from the younger generation are learning from the knitters who remain. This knitting tradition is at risk of disappearing. We have a brief window of opportunity in which we can learn directly from these North African knitters who may be the inheritors of the knitting tradition that gave us the oldest knitted artifacts to date.

You can read more about this unique knitting tradition in the book, Keepers of the Sheep: Knitting in Morocco’s High Atlas and Beyond, which was written by Irene Waggener in collaboration with Amazigh shepherds in the High Atlas. As requested by the shepherd-knitters, a portion of each book sale goes to Cooperative Ibilo (the women’s cooperative in the shepherds’ village) for use in projects that benefit the community.

 Text by Irene Waggener














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