I’ll let you in on a not so well kept secret. I’m always cold. I’ve got these long old gangly arms that are always making me cold. Last year when I was getting ready to head to San Francisco for the Nike Women’s Marathon I threw a pair of knee socks in my suit case “just in case”. Just in case what you ask? Just in case I needed to whip up a pair of DIY arm sleeves for the day of the race.
(sorry for the blurry pic. Thats what you get in the middle of the dang night)
The night before the race I decided that as chilly as it had been in San Fran the previous two mornings, I was indeed going to want something on my arms so I whipped out my knee socks and fashioned myself these sweet arm sleeves.
They were so dead easy to make, it took less than a minute to complete the project, but I’ve had so many compliments on them, and people asking me where they could get a pair I decided I needed to share my secret with y’all.
DIY Arm Sleeves
To make your own pair of sweet arm sleeves you buy a pair of knee socks (I got mine at Ardene for $3.33 + tax). You cut out the toes and the heel. That’s it. No sewing, no gluing, no nuthin’. Just a pair of succours and couple of cuts.
Initially, I was going to cut them straight across at the ankle, but then I realized if I cut the heel and the toes I could use the heel hole as a thumbhole, and almost have a pair of fingerless gloves as well as arm sleeves!
When I get warm I fold the top back slightly to expose more of my hand (this also makes a great place to tuck a kleenex or two. You know, if you need a kleenex sorting place 😉
And then you can also fold up to your wrist if you get even warmer…
The thing I really love about these is they were super cheap so if I get warm enough that I don’t want arm sleeves, I can take them off and toss them mid-race without feeling bad about throwing away a bunch of money (which I would feel if I bought a pair of those expensive arm sleeves!).
DIY Arm Sleeves How-To Video
I’m really pretty smitten with these things.
And bonus – it makes it much easier for me to find myself in random race photos, and for people to spot me on course and cheer me on (which is something I always appreciate!).
So next time you find yourself facing a race on a cool day, grab a pair of cheap knee socks and whip yourself up some sweet arm sleeves. I’m thinking about busying few more pairs so I can have a lovely collection of arm sleeves to choose from!
