Ratties! For my son’s 22nd birthday.

One in grey (a bit skinny) and one in black, with a grey tummy. (added in duplicate stitch after stuffing and sewing up the body).

The eyes are handmade glass beads, made by my son (without his knowledge of what they were needed for!).

I knitted the tail as i-cord once it got down to 4 sts, and made it a bit longer, decreasing to 3 sts for about 1 cm, and then 2 for a couple of rows.

Whiskers

The whiskers were tricky (instructions not included in the pattern). My husband came up with a great method :

• Get a longish piece of fishing line.
• Fold it in half.
• Tie a knot in it a few cm from the fold.
• Trim the loop / folded end off
• Thread the two whiskers onto a needle, and thread the needle through the ratty muzzle, pulling both pieces of fishing line through, with the knot inside the muzzle. Don’t pull too hard, or it will come out.

Now, here’s the tricky bit, which ensures the whiskers won’t pull out :

• Thread ONE of the two whiskers onto the needle again, and move it’s ‘point of origin’ a knitted stitch or two away from where it originally came out of the muzzle. This means that the knot inside now sits behind a knitted stitch, with the two whisker threads coming out in two different places, and it can’t pull out.

• Trim whiskers to desired length.