What is a Favor?
In Medieval times a lady would give her champion a token to wear, to show that he has her "favor". It could be a scarf, a handkerchief, a glove, etc... Often it would be something that they had spent a considerable amount of time decorating. Cross-stich, embroidery and lace are a few of the ways that a favor could be decorated.

Today some people still give each other favors. As a member of the Friesian-L community you get to wear our favor! The only hitch is that you will have to make it yourself. ;) It is also a good way for us to find each other if any of us happen to make it to a horse show.

What does the Friesian-L Favor look like?

It looks like a braided rope of Black and Gold. Black for all of the colors our favorite horses come in. (Shhh... the red one doesn't exist...) And gold is for the color of Amber, which we like for many and various reasons. Click on the picture for a BIG version.

How do I make my favor?

Take Six pieces of ribbon. 3 in yellow, 3 in black. All should be the same length. I usually measure them in pairs, and they end up stacked like this before I tie the knot

Then I knot them with a regular slip knot and just before I pull it tight I slip the open side of a safety pin through. I do this so I can pin to something to help keep the tension as I braid them.

When you start braiding it should look something like this.

     \\ || //

      \\||//

      @KNOT@

      //||\\

     // || \\

    //  ||  \\

   //   ||   \\

  by    by    by

You should have three pairs of ribbon, 1 black, 1 yellow in each. For the pair you want them to lie against each other so it almost looks like you have one piece of ribbon with two different color sides.

You braid normally, the trick is to fold the ribbon over as you bring it to the front. That will give you the flat braid that you can see in the pictures. It is easier then it looks, and the pattern comes from the two colors of ribbon, because as you fold it to the front it will bring a different colour to the top. Using two pieces of ribbon instead of just one also gives it more firmness.

When you get about an inch or so from the end, you just put another slip knot in and pull it tight. Now that you're done, smooth out the braid and bend it into a circle. I just tied a regular knot in it to form the circle and finish it off.

I used the plain el-cheapo satin ribbon from walmart to make these. You can usually find it from about $.25 - $1.00 depending on where you look.

The smallest circle that is finished I began with peices about a foot long. Each of the other two are from ribbon lengths a little longer. I just guestimate the lengths when I measure them.

When and where to wear them?

Anywhere you like, anywhere you think you might run into other listmembers, or are willing to acknowledge Friesian-L. I'll leave the where up to you, but traditional is pinned to the shirt, on the left, looped over the belt, or if you make really long ones you can wear them looped around the left arm pinned from the shoulder (SCA people please check local sumptuary laws for conflicts if you do this! If you don't know what we're talking about, don't worry.)