Bob, thanks for this time saving tip. I've used Irfanview from the very beginning, used it on the first photo I ever took...great little fixer. But, I've always resized just one photo at a time....didn't know about "batching"....gosh, what a time saver. I also use another little online "freebie" for photo editing since I don't have a program like Corel or Photoshop. Its called Photofiltre (from a French firm I believe). I downloaded from their site and it has some pretty good little features. Those are the only editing programs I have and they both do a decent job. I resize with Irfanview, save the pix, and use Photofiltre for sharpening, contrast and any other little fixes I might need to do. It has a number of filters that you can use too. I usually save my pix at 20 to 25 percent compression so as not to lose too much resolution. I almost never save a photo at more than 1600 x 1200 pixels unless I'm going to have that particular pic printed.....then I don't resize until after printing and then usually store them at less than that...usually about 800 x 600. Bob, thanks for the heads up on batching.....this is really going to save a lot of time..... ~Kathy~

Well, as I understand it, the shell pattern requires a repeat of 3 stitches: you need enough chains to make a certain number of shells ( 3 chains for each shell) in addition to the first 2 stitces you skip before making the first shell. We do not know how many inches wide the afghan is, but I like to make big baby blankets, so I would do about 38-42 inches. How many stitches per inch in the guage for the pattern? Do the math, make the base chain a number divisible by 3 with 2 left over. Then proceed following the directions. And I just keep crocheting the baby afghan till it looks like a nice square shape, which is the best shape for swaddling a baby. Did I explain this clearly? If not, email me or ask more here.

Beautiful picture! What are you using to print it with? I tried it with Windows Print Wizard and it printed exactly at 7x5. That would be 7" across and 5" up & down...is that what you are trying for? I am using XP, and I assume you have VISTA, so I don't know if the Print Wizard is different, but I will go through how I did it. I right clicked on the file (I saved it from here) and selected PRINT. I clicked NEXT until I go to the window that said LAYOUT SELECTION and I chose 5x7. It rotated and cropped the print automatically and printed it perfectly without cutting anything off (although I think it may have cropped just a slight amount off - as the dimensions on the picture I saved aren't a true 5x7). Then I just clicked next to continue through the print wizard until the photo printed. I chose to print 1 picture, but you can have it print two 5x7 on one page if you want...just put 2 in the number of copies to print at the bottom of the LAYOUT SELECTION window.

It is much harder than one would think. The best thing to do would be to have his parents take some measurements and buy a current pattern that reflects those measurements. I've sewn for 50 years and I wouldn't attempt to grade patterns (changing them from one size to another) For instance, his chest measurement might be two inches bigger than a 4 year old, but certainly his neck *won't be,* and those two things have to be combined. Little kids' bodies change, too. A toddler pattern (can go up to 4T) is shorter, and sized to accommodate a diaper. Children's sized patterns are taller, maybe a touch slimmer, and labeled without the T. They could send you clothing that fits, and you can try to adjust the patterns to match the clothing. Why not just buy a new pattern? a See and sew pattern is $2.99, but even a full priced pattern would more than save the cost of wasted fabric for something that doesn't fit. Patterns are almost always in sale someplace. I would make a pattern from scratch rather than grade one to fit, 90% of the time.