I have been making things ever scene I started crocheting at the age of about 9 years old. I learned to crochet from my grandmother and she didn't use patterns of any kind. She could look at something and turn it into a crocheted peace and she would just crochet and end up with all kinds of dollies that she would sale for a little extra money.
I learned to teach myself at a young to do the same. If I wanted clothes for my dolls I would just start crocheting them and would end up with very nice peaces. Know I'm doing the same on my knitting machine. 
Here are photos of my Snugglie that I made made on my knitting machine (open ended and closed ended). I don't have pattern books for babies to use on the machine (just the beginners booklet that came with it). So, I make my own patterns some that I don't have on paper just in my own mind. I will be writing them down soon. You can find the pattern at my etsy.shop.