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I play bass in a 1920’s duo (The Fabulous Heftones / http://heftone.com/fabulous) with my husband, Brian. To give some visual pizzazz onstage, we dress in tux and gown at our performances.

Many evening gowns are sleeveless.. Many performance locations are outdoors, often in cool weather. Warm fingers are rather essential to playing well outdoors!

I need my fingers bare to play bass. However, most fingerless gloves are casual. These have all the possible glam of an opera glove, but still leave my fingers free.
In 2007, we sang at the New York Ukulele Festival. There were two other women on the main stage for that Friday-night show. Bliss Blood, a woman who tends toward red and black goth–type clothing, was there with her act The Moonlighters. Photo of Bliss (center) with me (right): http://colorjoy.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/nyc...

Ami Worthen was there with Jason Krekel as The Mad Tea ( http://themadtea.com ). Ami often wears signature striped tights in red and white or red and black; that night she wore a red with white polka-dots dress. Photo of Ami: http://colorjoy.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/nyc...

I wore a beaded red silk dress that night. I thought… how about armwarmers for all three ukulele ladies?

I made my warmers first… mine were smooth and purple. After I made the first set for myself, I was inspired to make shiny/fuzzy ones (with chain to lace up rather than ribbon) with Bliss in mind, and a red & black striped version inspired by Ami.

I later invited a few expert hand-dyers into the equation. Meg of Twisted Fiberart provided inspiration in self-striping cashmere-blend yarn (the colorway is Warlock). Rita of Yarn Hollow provided BFL top in a colorway called Charlotte, and Rae Blackledge (formerly from Lansing, Michigan; now in Charlotte, NC) spun the yarn which she and I tag-team knit.

Photo credit models: Emily Rohrer, Lynn DT Hershberger. Photographers: Emily Rohrer, Lynn DT Hershberger, Brian Hefferan