Trends in the growth of extended interstitial defects are extracted from ex
tensive tight-binding and ab inito local density approximation simulations.
With an increasing number of interstitials, the stable defect shape evolve
s from compact to chainlike to rodlike. The rodlike {311} defect, formed fr
om (011) interstitial chains, is stabilized as it grows, elongating in the
chain direction. Accurate parametrization of the defect-formation energy on
the number of interstitials and interstitial chains, together with the ani
sotropy of the interstitial capture radius. enables macroscopic defect-grow
th simulations.PACS numbers: 61.72.Cc, 61.72.Ji, 71.55.-i.