Do you ever feel that your house is just too clean and tidy? ...or that you need company when you're reading? Here is the ultimate pin loom companion, the Flat Rat. Whether as flattened friend or bookmark, the Flat Rat lends an air of dissipated companionship to any environment. A friend pointed out a knitting pattern for a Flat Rat and it struck me that it would be even better in pin loom squares. Think of all the uses! Not only do you have an exceptional bookmark, it makes a great coaster, giving a certain fuzzy touch to your morning coffee. Add a second Flat Rat as a tiny cup cozy and you have instant companionship- with your little friend peering up at you each time you take a sip. And if you have kids at home, what better than a unique accessory for the play house, a Flat Rat rug. The Pin Loom Flat Rat is super easy to make. 1) Weave one 4"x 4" and one 2" x 2" square in your choice of rat color. 2) Turn the 2" x 2" in a cone, first turning in the corner so that the nose isn't TOO sharp and stitch along the edge. The triangle shape of extra cloth is laid on top of the 4"x 4" square and stitched in place. Add stuffing to the head and stitch the underside of the cone in place along the edge of the 4" x 4". 3) Pinch in the corners of the 4" x 4" for about 1/2 inch and stitch closed to produce the little squashed feet. Add three pieces of 3/8" length of black yarn sticking out of each foot for rat claws. 4) Crochet the ear, I used a 4.0mm hook, ch4, hdc1, skip, hdc1. Do this twice, once for each ear. This will give you little round ears with two pieces of yarn coming off of the bottom. Run the yarn into the head to place the ears. You can just ties these two yarn ends together to keep the ear in place. 5) I used small glass beads for the eyes or you could take a few small stitches in black yarn to make the eyes. 6) Add pink yarn for the nose. I used about three or four satin stitches up over the front of the nose. 7) Crochet the tail, which should be the same length as the head and body, about 5". Make a chain with two pieces of yarn, the rat color and pink, stitch the tail to the back of the rat. The pink and rat color make a nice color mix for the tail. 8) Add black whiskers by running light black yarn or light cotton yarn through the rat muzzle. 9) As you can see in the picture below, I added rat bellies to a couple of the rats. This isn't absolutely necessary but can be a fun touch. Use a 2" x 2" in a light color, turn in the corners to make the belly somewhat oval and stitch to the underside of the rat using the body color for stitching. Don't forget to add a bellybutton by taking a couple tiny stitches in the rat body color. So that's it. A fun project that includes assistance in keeping your place in your book while offering you beady-eyed companionship during these physically distancing times. Be well and happy weaving.