Christine Jordan

Rough Circle is about a move from a career in design then food, and back to design, but this time producing wool based textiles. Focusing on raising Valais Blacknose and Herdwick sheep organically on a small farm in Co. Carlow, has evolved into exploring how to use their wool imaginatively.

With a background in product, kitchen and furniture design, but with a lifelong interest in food, I have combined design with food and rural living in many projects over the years. My cookery school Tasteworks was a much loved project for many years, teaching, growing, entertaining and educating visitors on all things regarding local, seasonal food. Television programmes followed, leading to working with Glenisk, Ireland’s largest organic dairy company, on their Upfront & Personal pop-up on Dawson Street and subsequently on their food styling, recipe video content, and project management for new product development.

A chance encounter in 2016 with Kilkenny based textile specialist Alex Meldrum, inspired me to return to design education, where I studied printing, weaving, ceramics, and jewellery design at Grennan Mill Craft College. Interested in exploring the potential as to how craft can integrate with agri-tourism, I wrote a thesis on the role of indigenous craft and design in tourism as part of post-graduate research. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, like many others, I began experimenting with creative projects including textile printing and weaving.

After buying two lambs to “mow” the grass around the house in the summer of 2022, I researched the potential for using their wool for textile products. A plan to offer workshops in sheep care, wool production and textile arts alongside was hatched.

The flock has grown from two to fifty, and the small cottage beside the house is now my studio and workspace. The move back to design and craft, has lead to me establishing a working design space, using natural materials that ordinarily go to waste.

To follow the comings and goings of all this, see the blog page for posts where anything from sheep to wool to design and nature are delved into.