Simply fell for it at first sight.

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前往書店的途中、蕭條的街道、到小區超市買菜的媽媽、幾乎都沒客人的各類型小店。耳邊只聽見尋常的生活聲響。在特別寬闊的街道上走著,而那個下午有沒有陽光呢,在炎熱的六月尾巴,而本來目的地就只有一個,是在稍微偏離市中心的書店。但那趟旅程確是有很多我想我不會忘記的意料之外。

第一眼就掉進去了。

記得小時候外婆的巧手,但老花眼了便常讓我幫忙穿針引線,同樣是寧靜的下午,我和她在家的時光,已多久了呢。

On my way to the bookstore, I could see desolate streets, housewives doing grocery shopping in supermarkets, as well as different types of shops with almost no customer inside. The sound of everyday street life was lingering in my ears. Walking along a particularly wide street in an afternoon in late June, it was hot but without much sunshine. My only destination was set to a bookstore outside of the city center. Little did I expect that little journey would unfold surprises that I could never forget.

I simply fell for it at first sight.

I still remember how I watched the delicate hands of my grandma weaving when I was little. After she got presbyopia, I often needed to help her with threading the needle. There were so many peaceful afternoons spent with her at home. How long has it been since then?

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線卷蓋滿一整幅白牆,從大片玻璃窗外看已被震懾,我呆了半晌,便著身旁那位在附近晃晃,就踏前打開另一個世界的門。兩位店員朝我微笑點頭,其中一位便繼續專注於桌上的編織。也沒其他客人,一種愜意的氣氛,我是被什麼整整包圍住吧。就像小時候站在日式超市貨架前,看著包裝誘人的糖果,每款都躍躍欲試但每次又只能挑選一款。而這回,我來做個富翁吧。

不同的材質延伸成各種粗幼與花色,每種又再有多種顏色選擇,大部分其實已不是基礎認知裡的線,有綴滿毛毛球的、紙材質的什麼都不缺。基本上就是個深淵,然後甘願淪陷,又覺甜甜蜜蜜。

「那,你會用來做什麼啊?」

是否誰也有過,對於不是自己熟悉的東西,在某時某刻卻一下命中了的感覺,不知道最後會走到哪,只是當抱著大堆線材推門而去,感覺彷彿這站經已走完。

後來它們漸漸擠滿新的抽屜,腦子裡的想法在滿得要瀉的晚上又失眠、好奇死了。有天跑去上了梭織課織了一幅地毯,也因此知道自己不喜歡怎樣的創作方式。或者就依舊不讀工具書,也不再找老師這樣走下去吧?

From outside of the shop’s huge window, I was captivated by how the entire wall covered with spools of sewing threads. I pushed open the shop door that led me to a different world. The two shop staff nodded and smiled; one of them soon returned to her knitting work. I was the only customer in the shop, embraced by a tranquil atmosphere. The scene reminds me of the childhood moment when I stood in front of the candy shelf in a Japanese supermarket, where everything is wrapped in a tempting package. As a child, I was allowed to pick one each time, but this time, I decided to indulge myself.

Different types of threads can weave into various thickness and styles. Meanwhile, each fabric type comes with a library of colors. Most selections are beyond my basic knowledge of sewing threads. There are types with ornamental fluffy balls, some threads even have a texture of the paper material. It is basically one big universe that you can gleefully dive into.

“So, how will you use this?”

Is it true that everyone has their own impulsive moment to fall into something that is only remotely familiar? Such an encounter seems to be directed by some sort of destiny. I finally walked out of the shop with a huge bag of sewing threads, without knowing where they would lead me to. I felt a sense of accomplishment simply by having them.

Later on, the spools of threads began to fill up my new drawers. As my ideas started overflowing, my intense curiosity gave insomnia. One day, I rushed to take a weaving class and made a carpet. Only until then did I realize I was actually not fond of being bound by any standardized creation process. Perhaps I can continue to do it my way without relying on any instructional books or teachers?


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