What is "scoubidou"

n. A plait woven from multi-coloured strips of coloured plastic

Scoubidou (gimp, lanyard, scoubi, scoobie, boondoggle, or rex-lace) is a knotting craft, originally aimed at children. It originated in France, where it became a fad in the late 1950s and has remained popular. It is named after the 1958 song of the same name by the French singer Sacha Distel.

Scoubidou returned to fashion in various countries, including the United Kingdom, in 2004 and 2005. It uses commercially supplied plastic strips or tubes.

The most common kind of thread used for the craft is flat and comes in many colors. Another kind of scoubidou thread is supple, round and hollow plasticized PVC tubes usually about 80 centimetres in length. They are sold in various colors, sizes and types, and are used to make items by binding them together with knots. On account of their elasticity and hollow cross-section—which allow them to collapse and deform when pulled—they form tight and stable knots. Key chains, friendship bands and other trinkets are most commonly woven, although more complicated shapes and figures can also be created.

Most of the knots used in scoubidou were already used in bast fibre, while the creations possible with scoubidou are similar to traditional corn dollies and macrame.

Scoubidou is the title of a French song, translated from the American "Apples, Peaches and Cherries", composed by Abel Meeropol and a hit when recorded by Peggy Lee in the United States. The song was originally written and recorded in English.

The French version was sung by Sacha Distel, and it was his first hit song, becoming number one in France. Abel Meeropol filed a copyright infringement suit against Distel, as originally he did not arrange for payment of royalties to the songwriter. After the suit was settled, royalties from the French version of the song continued to provide income to Michael and Robert Meeropol, the adopted sons of Meeropol and his wife Anne. The boys were the orphaned sons of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Americans who were convicted and executed for treason as spies for the Soviet Union.

A Scoubidou is a corkscrew-like tool that is used for the commercial harvesting of seaweed, whose invention is credited to Yves Colin in 1961. The device consists of an iron hook attached to a hydraulic arm. It superseded a common harvesting tool known as the guillotine shortly after its invention. The scoubidou is used primarily for harvesting Laminaria digitata, a species used mainly for fertiliser.