I recently received a wonderful review for my big Bobby the bumble bee pattern from a fellow amigurumi designer, Mevlinn Gusick (you should check out her great work!):

This pattern was so easy to understand, the instructions for attaching the limbs could easily be the most detailed I have ever seen. The best part is how the pattern was originally created for worsted weight yarn and can make a bee up to 12 inches long but I used fingering weight yarn and ended up with this adorable mini bee instead.

Isn’t he cute! I was so delighted to see big Bobby in little form 🙂 All Mevlinn did to create this mini bee was use a finer weight yarn and a smaller hook – Bobby shrunk from being a foot long to being able to fit in her hand!

To create the big 12 inch Bobby you need to use worsted weight yarn and a 4 mm hook, but Mevlinn used fingering weight yarn and a 2.25 mm hook to make her smaller bee.

You can apply this technique to any amigurumi pattern to create mini versions of the original ami – simply use a finer yarn and smaller hook than the pattern calls for!

You can of course apply the same principles to make a bigger amigurumi, too. If you use a bulkier yarn and a larger hook than the pattern describes, you will make a larger ami.

In the images below you can see just how much of an effect yarn weight and hook size has on the size of a finished piece:Both the circles above are the same in terms of number of rounds and stitches, but the green circle on the left is made using a bulkier weight yarn and a 5 mm hook, while the blue circle on the right is made with a finer weight yarn and a 3.25 mm hook.

Give it a go and experiment with different yarn weights and hook sizes using your favourite amigurumi patterns – you can create whole families of amis with little babies and big papas.

Not a fan of fingering weight yarn and tiny hooks but still want a little Bobby? You can always use my little bobby the bumble pattern, which still uses worsted weight yarn 🙂

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Until next time,