Instead of staring at her smartphone’s screen endlessly for entertainment during the pandemic, Ourn Sokhanthearoath decided to pick up her crochet hooks and start a small business creating handmade items to sell.

The 29-year-old Sokhanthearoath – who already has a full-time job working for a private company – started crocheting at a very young age, but she never imagined that she could earn money through her hobby.

She has turned her colourful yarn into hats, baby clothes, key chains, bags, purses and scarves with a multitude of different designs.

Sokhanthearoath has adopted western seasonal designs for her baby outfits, using holidays like Halloween and Easter as themes.

Her crocheted bags and scarves for women are heavily influenced by the tastes of her foreign friends, giving her products a wide appeal to a wide range of clients.

“I learned this skill in home economics class when I was in primary school. I wasn’t the smartest student, but I just loved it. I would always try to crochet something different from what my classmates were doing. I was always very curious and I would ask the teacher too many questions,” Sokhanthearoath tells The Post with a laugh.

At first, Sokhanthearoath did not expect that many people would be interested or that she would receive any orders – let alone enough orders to reach the point of starting her own business.

Her crocheted baby costumes for Halloween are popular and they are what led her to open her business. Photo supplied

Then one day Sokhanthearoath posted a picture of a hat that she had crocheted for her baby to Facebook and her friends and family were really impressed by her work. Their support helped motivate her to open her own business.

“From there I started posting my crocheted items and the idea was just to do it for fun. I’m proud of my work and happy to share what I can do with people,” she says.

Seeing all the eye-catching stuff she was posting, a foreign friend of hers suggested she try crocheting Halloween costumes for babies since the holiday was coming up soon.

She crocheted a baby nappy and hat with a pumpkin pattern and it turned out so well she’s made holiday themed apparel for babies a specialty.

Sokhanthearoath’s friend helped connect her with other foreign customers and from there she started to receive a steady stream of orders from customers online.

Asked how she comes up with her ideas she says it’s all about practice, practice and more practice.

“The more you do the better your ideas become and you also begin to realise your imperfections and then you work to overcome them – especially when you or someone else intends to actually use the items that you’re creating. For example, the dog sweat shirt I came up with when I wanted to make a gift for my boss,” she says.

Sokhanthearoath says she honestly doesn’t consider herself to be a “professional” crocheter because she can’t perfectly replicate every item that customers order from her.

One challenge that Sokhanthearoath has to overcome here in Cambodia is that it’s hard to find the materials she needs at times.

There is less overall variety of yarn available here as compared to what appears in the pictures she’s often asked to model her creations after, she says.

Nina brand’s crocheted product line includes pet clothes like the vest the dog in the photo is sporting. Photo supplied

“Some people are interested in the patterns I have posted on the page. Some prefer different designs. Most of the custom jobs are patterns that customers found in a Google search, which is more likely to be made with foreign products and the materials are sometimes not locally sourced and hard to find in Cambodia,” she says.

For example, the types of yarn used for different projects can be very distinctive – some are softer, some more coarse and the colours she needs are not always available.

“If I could do it, I would do it. If clients just want something similar and there’s room for adjustment to how it’s made, I will usually suggest a concept to them and if they like it then we can make a deal. I can usually do things that are at least 70 or 80 per cent similar to what they are trying to order,” she says.

For the past year – working under the brand name Nina – Sokhanthearoath has been catering to both local and expat customers. Foreign clients usually want to buy an outfit for their baby to wear for a photoshoot, while Cambodian customers tend to buy more bags and hats.

Sokhanthearoath doesn’t keep any back inventory of items to serve up to customers, so anyone who places an order must wait for her to custom-crochet the item for them. She says she tries to discuss with customers in advance what the timeline for completion will be since her schedule is often very full given that she works a regular job and only does this business in her free time.

29-year-old Ourn Sokhanthearoath with her crocheted bag. Photo supplied

Her prices depend heavily upon what styles or patterns her customers have requested, but most items range somewhere in price from $15 to $50.

“In all honesty, I don’t make big profits from this. What keeps me doing it is my love for it and the feeling of fulfilment and pride when I see that my customers love what I’ve made for them. That is what keeps me going,” she says.

Sokhanthearoath doesn’t currently have a physical shop location or showroom where she can display her products for customers but it’s a dream of hers to be able to have a shop one day.

In the meantime, Sokhanthearoath says she will continue to polish her crocheting skills and widen her familiarity with new and different patterns.

“I want to our people promote and love the work of handmade artisans and to buy the local products made by our people. I believe that public support will encourage [Cambodian artisans] to be more creative and do things their own way while helping them earn a little extra cash,” she says.

For more information on Nina brand crocheted products, you can contact her via her Facebook page @SokhantheaorathOurn.