Does anyone out there have a copy of "McCall's Makes it Just for Baby" from 1973? I'm looking for a favorite pattern for a hoodie. My copy got drowned in hurricane Frances.

My reply in these cases is always the same:

You do not need a pattern.

I shall never understand why so many people on this web-site are "hooked" on patterns.

Pattern junkies!

If you consider you have the skills to knit this item, just knit it. You know what the finished item looks like. That is the hardest part. Buy sufficient yarn Make your swatches, do your maths, and get on with it.

ATB, John

John,
Sometimes I like a pattern because someone else has done all the math, swatches, etc. All I have to do is swatch enough to know what size needles I need and then I'm off. Just laziness on my part, but sometimes I just don't want to think that hard!

But, John, why reinvent the wheel? If someone has designed something that captures my interest, I'd prefer to acknowledge their achievement and follow their directions. (Well, I'll certainly need to adjust the pattern for myself, since I'm smaller than average, but that takes minutes.)

Also: Designing or recreating a design from scratch is a lengthy process, and a separate skill. I do enjoy it, though not all knitters do. But knitting is relaxing, while designing is intense; very often if I'm in the mood to knit, I'm not in the mood to design, and vice versa. (If you want to interpret that as "I'm often lazy," I won't contradict you. :-) )

John,
I didn't know you cared!

I'm a designer/CNC programmer by trade and after I work all day, I knit to relax. The hoodie is a special request. Since I have neither a picture nor the finished article, it's not a design I want to try and recreate from memory.

Just a thought, but isn't it really my business how I choose to spend my time?

John, I would like to let you know that the christening dress pattern turned out wonderful. I altered the pattern from the infant size so it fit my 28 pound grandson and added almost 2 feet of lace so it became a true baptismal gown. The ceremony went off perfectly and I have hadseveral requests for more gowns that I gracefully declined as they wanted caviar but wanted to pay pennies. No pictures until the film is developed. Old patterns do work quite well at times.

I'm SO glad that your gown turned out wonderful!! I had been wondering. Just as I wonder about Knit n Up's Curtains. AND what happened to the Lady Trucker who was a former Knit Shop Owner. AND what happened to the Shawl that went round the World and got 'lost' on its way to California. I hope that person is 'bothered' but I guess those kind never are... Grace, Love and Prayers. God Bless.

I'll bet the baby looked beautiful in it. Now see, that's the perfect blend of using a pattern, but at the same time following John's advice. You took a written pattern, did a little math, and altered the pattern to what you needed.

And boy, is that soooo true about people ask you to make something and then gripe about the price. You said caviar, but what my hubby calls it is, champagne tastes on a beer budget.

Yes, Eric looked great but was very upset that he had to stay in someone's arms because the skirt of the gown was too long to get around the floor and the bonnet was not what he considered the best part of the outfit. Told my son it would have been much easier if he and his wife hadn't argued for a year about whether to have him baptized.
I was tickled at one lady who asked if I would make her one just like it. She said she would gladly give me $25.00 if I would do it and if it was a problem would go up to $35.00. Told her that wouldn't even cover the cost of the yarn that I had used. She just "hmmpfed" and said that if I was going to be ridiculous about it to forget it as she knew that wool yarn was only $5.00 a pound or so. Told her if she could get me the silk/cashmere blend that I had used for $50.00 a lb I would make her one for just the yarn.
Heard she told some others that I must have dreams of grandeur because I was ridiculously overpricing my time and materials. At least the gown will be put away and used for future generations and they will,hopefully,appreciate my work.

What a wacko! Are you sure she wasn't a ghost (and a rude one at that) from another century? (It's not that easy to find raw fleece at $5 a pound, much less yarn.)

She isn't the first one I have run into that thinks yarn costs a penny a pound and my time is worth nothing. Sometimes it makes me giggle but other times their attitude makes me so angry I could spit nails.
Last year I was asked to make a copy of a 1920s flapper hat and jacket plus a muff for her hands for a school play and they thought $20.00 would cover the yarn, designing a pattern and then giving them the dress for any future play would be just fine. When I told them what it would take, they said I should be happy to actuallt donate my time and trouble because they didn't have much money to spare for extras and since I am retired I don't actually need the money since social security pays quite well. Told them that if they think $412.00 a month is being paid quuite well, they needed to go back to school and study economics.

Wow -- that person had some chutzpah to expect you to donate your time -- AND your money!

When I got the Lion Brand Fisherman's wool for working on master's level 1, that was $8.00 for a pound, and that isn't even "great" wool, OK, just not great. So if anyone thinks that they can get yarn for $5.00, they aren't getting a pound of it.

And while some people might get paid better than others on Social Security, it's still not lots of money! So a pox on people who think that just because you're retired you must have lots of time and money!

$8 a pound? The run-of-the-mill worsted I buy (Plymouth Galway, Ella Rae) cost $6.95 for 3.5 oz!

This is what happens when I'm on here too early. The Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool is $8.00 for 8oz, not for a pound. Me bad!

But even if I had been correct the first time, the point was still valid. You just can't get wool for $5.00, it's just not out there, and whoever thought it was is stuck in a time warp (or something).