Knitting - how can I make a toy pattern smaller?

[MrsMopple]

I knitted the bear from Simply Knitting and am really pleased with how he turned out. He is a bit big, though and I would like to make something half the size. So, I was wondering if anyone knew how to adjust the pattern? Should I keep the shapings, but halve the number of rows and stitches? Or is it far more complicated than that?!

I wouldn't like to try and reduce a pattern size for something so fiddly.

Can you use thinner wool and smaller needles but keep the stitches the same?

I've done exactly what mamamamama suggested for a toy elephant. I just found some finer wool I liked and then used the recommended needle size for the wool. It worked a treat.

I would do as the previous respondents suggest, otherwise you will basically have to re write the pattern from scratch, swatching first and then recalculating the stitch count and the decreases and increases.