This week meet John Murphy the artist, illustrator,
comic author and sock collector. John lives in
Asheville, North Carolina where he makes stuffed
monsters out of castoff socks.
No joke. You can send your socks to his home studio
and he will make you a "stupid sock creature." Or,
all you crafty types can make your own following the
detailed instructions he published in his book:
"Stupid Sock Creatures." (There's even a preview to
"Crafting Disaster," a comic series he's working on
with a friend at the end of the book.)
John studied illustration and ceramics at East
Carolina University. After college he worked as a
newsroom artist for the Wilmington Star News in North
Carolina, and eventually took his art on the road to
California where he worked in the ceramics industry.
When a layoff left him jobless in 2003, he didn't
stay idle for long. He quickly crafted himself a new
gig. He learned to sew and started making monsters
out of socks. Since then he estimates that he's
stitched hundreds of them, and just recently hired an
assistant to help keep up with the orders. This
summer he even plans to hire an intern.
For more info on how to get a monster of your own,
check out John Murphy's site. There you'll find more
awesome creatures like the ones below.
Photos used courtesy of
John Murphy.
Like what you see? Check back here for one of John's
sock creature patterns. I'll be posting that as soon
as I get it.
Feeling inspired to re-fabricate your worn out socks?
Do it! It's really fun. I'm no John Murphy, but below
is a photo of the creature I managed to create
following the instructions in his book. Send me a
photos of your sock creatures and I'll post them on
CraftSanity.
I went from this: 
To this:
I named him Detective Friday after the day I made
him. I'm not sure where the "Detective" came from,
but I'm very pleased that he can stand by himself.
That happened by accident.
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Also, check out who won last week's contest.
Coming soon: John shares a pattern
Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your guest, product review and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com
Music in this podcast was used courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.