And little baby duds

It was an injured shoulder eight years ago that forced Anna Tumas to give up her beloved knitting, an art form she had learned growing up in Germany. So when she faced a very shrunken wool sweater after accidentally washing it in hot water, the lightbulb went on.

For the last several years, this Cinnaminson woman has taken the loveliest old wool and cashmere sweaters she can find and recrafted them into baby sweaters. Shelves in her home workroom bulge with a rhapsody of pastels, brights, and occasional print sweaters seized like pirate's booty at thrift shops and yard sales.

The recycling process is painstaking, and begins with boiling the material so it softens into the wool version of fairy dust - soft, pliable, delicious to the touch.

Then Tumas, 54, cuts the sweaters apart and resews the pieces from patterns she has created, using visible hand-stitching, and coordinating this sleeve with that back or binding or collar. "I don't know at the beginning what the end will be - the wool kind of speaks to me," she says.

The adornments come from Tumas' vast collection of trimmings - vintage lace, buttons, ribbons. Some sweaters are adorned with appliques cut from her abundant stocks of wool scraps. No two sweaters are alike, and each baby sweater is made completely by hand.

1. Heart Felt handmade baby sweaters, from 12 months to toddlers 2 to 3 (custom sizes also available). Prices range from $75 to $150; available at Creative Genius Gallery in Medford; at La-Di-Da in Moorestown; at Earth Tones in Merchantville; and at heartfeltbaby.etsy.com.

2. Softer than cashmere, these snuggly Karen Neuburger infant lounge socks are packaged in gift sets of two pair. Made of nylon and polyester, fits newborn to six months; $16, available at www.karenneuburger.com.

3. Is there anything cuter than a baby's face framed by a hat? Lucky babies can be capped in luxury in 100 percent cashmere headgear - and mittens - courtesy of Baby CZ by Carolina Zapf, the creator of high-end headgear and handwear for wee ones. Hats: for 6 to 18 months; navy, $82; hot pink, $90; white beret, $92. Available at the Children's Boutique, 1702 Walnut St., 215-732-2661, thechildrensboutiquebaby.com. I