New old sweater

I'm wearing someone else's sweater, but it doesn't look anything like it did when she was wearing it. That's because in the interim it passed through the studio of designer Malin Bengtsson.

Bengtsson, who has an online shop in the virtual crafts marketplace Etsy.com, has a booth this weekend at the Nordic Heritage Museum's Yulefest. Her work is a perfect extension of the festival's Scandinavian crafts (heavy on needlework and colorful woolens) into the 21st century: She's taking old sweaters and turning them into one-of-a-kind new fashions using techniques such as serging and felting.

This bright marine-blue sweater is one of her most traditional items -- a cashmere-blend V-neck enhanced with lettuce edges. (I desperately wanted the chocolate-brown cashmere with fiber woven along the boat neck, but that item, with 3/4 sleeves and a crop hem, was just too horizontal to look good on me.)

Bengtsson's reincarnated knitware line include leg warmers (and arm warmers) made of sweater sleeves; hats; scarves; and, of course, sweaters. To purchase, dash over to the Yulefest Sunday (10 - 6) or check out her Etsy site.