Often, the housewives would gather for “NYKTERI” Three, four, or five women would gather in one house, and by the light of an oil lamp, one would spin thread, another knit, a third would patch old clothes, while another might sew new garments by hand, as sewing machines were not available back then. They would sit late into the night to “get the work done,” having planned during the day at whose house the night work would take place.