{"id":21209,"date":"2021-02-23T10:36:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T15:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/?p=21209"},"modified":"2025-05-20T12:53:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T16:53:47","slug":"scaling-amigurumi-a-crochet-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/scaling-amigurumi-a-crochet-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Scaling Amigurumi: a crochet investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m often asked how to scale one of my amigurumi patterns up or down by a specific amount. It’s hard to answer that without relevant data, so that means it’s time for another crochet experiment – yay!<\/p>\n

Want to skip straight to the results? Jump straight to the Scaling Amigurumi to Any Size<\/a> tutorial.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Method<\/h2>\n

I made 8 versions of my Tiny Whale pattern<\/a>, ranging from the largest 25mm hook I own down to the smallest hook I felt I could manage (0.9mm), and choosing the most appropriate yarn size for each hook.<\/p>\n

\"resizing<\/p>\n

Of course, it’s possible to crochet outside this range – massive 40mm hooks exist (or you can crochet using your whole hand instead of a hook!), and some talented people are able to crochet with sewing thread and a 0.4mm hook – but I had to set some limits for my experiment…<\/p>\n

The three dark blue whales<\/strong> in my photos mark these limits: largest, smallest, and the standard size (made with worsted weight yarn and a US E\/3.5mm hook).<\/p>\n

I’ve named all eight sizes so we have something to refer to throughout this post, from largest to smallest (and top to bottom in the photo above):<\/p>\n

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  1. Extreme Amigurumi<\/li>\n
  2. Giant Amigurumi<\/li>\n
  3. Mini Giant Amigurumi<\/li>\n
  4. Large Amigurumi<\/li>\n
  5. Standard Amigurumi<\/strong> – regular amigurumi!<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. Small Amigurumi<\/li>\n
  7. Mini Amigurumi<\/li>\n
  8. Micro Amigurumi<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The difference in scale is incredible – one stitch<\/strong> of an Extreme Amigurumi whale is larger than an entire<\/strong> Micro Amigurumi whale!<\/p>\n

    \"resizing<\/p>\n

    And here’s a top-down photo of all 8 sizes (this is a single photo so the scale is exact; the only editing I did was to add the pink spiral for clarity):<\/p>\n

    \"resizing<\/p>\n

    Look for the three dark blue whales to see the differences in size between the Standard size and the Micro (smallest) and Extreme (largest).\u00a0 Isn’t that something?!<\/p>\n

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    Calculations<\/h2>\n

    Time to quantify those differences. To get an idea of the scale change, I took four measurements from each of my whales:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. the average width of one stitch<\/em> (sampled over several stitches for higher accuracy)<\/li>\n
    2. the average height of one round<\/em>\u00a0(sampled over several rounds for higher accuracy)<\/li>\n
    3. the overall length of the whale<\/em><\/li>\n
    4. the width of the whale<\/em> at its widest part<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Then, for each whale, I compared each measurement with the same measurement on my standard sized whale (made with worsted weight yarn and a US E\/3.5mm hook). I used the average of the four comparisons, rounded to a nice number, to give me an approximate overall scale factor<\/strong> for each amigurumi size.<\/p>\n

      There’s a lot of variability here – not only in the numbers I measured from my samples and the accuracy of my measurements, but in the difference between specific yarn and hook combinations and the individual crocheting style of each crocheter – so a rough conversion factor is the best we’re going to get.<\/p>\n

      My scale factor is not<\/strong> intended to be an accurate number, but a rough idea<\/strong> of the size difference you can expect from scaling up or down.<\/p>\n

      \n

      Results<\/h2>\n

      \"resizing
      \nUPDATE: Note that I’ve replaced my original ‘Mini Giant’ scale that you see in this post with the ‘Double’ scale, which, although it isn’t as large at 2x scale, makes for a better amigurumi toy, with sturdier fabric and smaller gaps between the stitches. (For reference, Mini Giant used the same yarn as Double with a larger L hook, to make a 2.4x size amigurumi.)<\/em><\/p>\n

      I’ve created a table of results that you can use as:<\/p>\n