MORE FUN THAN MACARONI ART

'Stupid Sock Monsters': The Answer To 'Lost' Causes

WHO THE HELL KNOWS WHERE THOSE ELUSIVE DISAPPEARING SOCKS GO: Left in dryers at laundromats; dropped in condo laundry rooms; stuck inside some godforsaken T-shirt that's been stuffed in the drawer for the last two years.

Maybe you're sick of those 'loners' cluttering your sock drawer. Or perhaps just stuck inside, bored to tears in your San Francisco Bay area apartment, and need something to do something with your hands.

That's sort of how sock artisan John Murphy' story begins.

The North Carolina native who studied illustration and sculpture moved to California two years after graduating from college. Eventually, frustrated by a lack of sculpting supplies, he began making sock monsters from socks, thrift store buttons, needle and thread.

Then the craziest thing happened: his creations were so popular that he ultimately sold a book entitled, duh, Stupid Sock Creatures, which by sheer serendipity Crabby found for 35 cents at a thrift store this summer.

Around these parts, making sock creatures has become contagious. The book's worth every penny, even if you have to buy it at the retail price.