Amigurumi size calculator

Want a pattern's bear twice as big, or a tiny version for a keyring? You can change the yarn and keep the stitch counts, or keep the yarn and scale the pattern. This calculator works out the new height, the yarn and the stuffing for either way. The stuffing surprises most people: it grows much faster than the height.

How to use the calculator

1. Choose how you are resizing: same pattern in a different yarn, or same yarn with a bigger or smaller pattern.
2. Enter the original height, the yarn the pattern uses and, if you know it, the stuffing.
3. For a yarn change, enter the pattern's stitch gauge and yours. For a scaled pattern, enter the height you want.

How the calculator works

The size multiplier depends on the method:

Different yarn: multiplier = pattern stitch gauge ÷ your stitch gauge

Scaled pattern: multiplier = new height ÷ original height

• Height: original height × multiplier.
• Yarn, different yarn and same stitches: each stitch is bigger by the multiplier, so the yarn length grows by the multiplier. The grams grow faster, because thicker yarn weighs more per yard.
• Yarn, same yarn and scaled pattern: there are more stitches in both directions, so the yarn grows with the square of the multiplier.
• Stuffing: it fills the volume, which grows with the cube of the multiplier either way.

Reading your results

• Size multiplier and new height.
• Yarn length: for the new size, with how it was scaled.
• Stuffing: in grams and ounces. A warning appears when the stuffing grows 15 times or more.

Worked example

A 6 in bear in sport cotton at 24 stitches per 4 in uses 80 yd and 20 g of stuffing. You make it in super bulky chenille at 9.6 stitches per 4 in:

• Multiplier: 24 ÷ 9.6 = 2.5, so the bear is 6 × 2.5 = 15 in (38.1 cm) tall.
• Yarn: 80 × 2.5 = 200 yd of chenille.
• Stuffing: 20 × 2.5³ = 312.5 g, about 313 g (11 oz), 15.6 times as much.

Accuracy and limits

• This is a modelled estimate; our automated tests check the arithmetic. How firmly you stuff changes the stuffing weight by a fair margin.
• Plush yarns such as chenille compress more than smooth cotton, so they may take more stuffing.
• In a thicker yarn, the length per stitch may not grow exactly in step with the size; weigh as you go if yarn is tight.

Common mistakes

1. Buying stuffing in proportion to the height. Twice the height needs about eight times the stuffing.
2. Using the label's hook. Amigurumi needs a tight fabric so the stuffing does not show: use a hook a size or two smaller than the yarn label suggests.
3. Keeping the same eyes. Scale the safety eyes with the toy, or the face changes.

Tips for more accurate results

• Measure your gauge in a tight amigurumi swatch, not the yarn label's gauge.
• Choose new safety eyes with the amigurumi proportion and safety eye calculator.
• With chenille or other plush yarns, close the magic ring gently, or start with a chain-2 start, since the core can snap.

Frequently asked questions