Jane, I normally share my feelings here...and prayers sure would have been welcomed. But it was embarrassing to be scared senseless. I actually wrote out 'final wishes' for my husband and my daughter to take care if something should happen to me. Pretty pathetic, huh? (several years ago a friend of ours went in hospital for minor knee surgery and her heart stopped 3 times under the anethesia. She was in a coma for 6 wks then died. So that was really playing havoc with my anxiety as my surgery date grew nearer.) I'm still fighting it a bit till I get biopsy results. hugs, Karen

I received a New Home sewing machine (2022)for free a few years ago. It hadn't been used in over 20 years and had no manual. I bought my manual at that site above. I would never have figured out the machine without the manual and I still use regularly. For example, the bobbin is loaded backwards from every other machine my mother or I have ever used. The other thing I had to do to get the machine into working order was have it overhauled at a sewing machine shop. This service did cost about $50 but my machine works perfectly now and I didn't have to spend $200-300 on a new machine. On my New Home (which looks like a very different model), I have to switch the stitch selector to zigzag AND choose the width of my zigzags. There are 3 things to select for every stitch. The type of stitch (zigzag), the width, and the length. On my machine the width and length are in the same place, the inside and outside of a knob. The needle physically moves from left to right when I turn the width knob. I hope this helps. Enjoy your machine.

There is no bobbin to this little machine. It makes a chain stitch. In order to do this there is a lever underneath the catches the thread. The way it is designed the lever hits the needle and eventually over time the needle form a permanent bend. This will prevent it from catching the thread. What you need to do at this point is to replace the needle. The 24x3 is no longer manufactured. You can order a 24 x1 which is the replacement the size 11 works best. Remember that the flat part of the substitute is on the opposite side from the original 24 x3.

Donna, your chair really does look like a dark version of mine! Cara, I like mine a lot. I'm glad I bought it. And I'm equally pleased with my Lazy Boy desk chair. I'm sorry you were injured! Glad it wasn't worse. To quote Judge Judy: "If you want to live a long life, I have two words for you--don't fall." I repeated this to my son the other day when he asked if I'd like to have a bicycle and go riding with him and his boys. :-) As I said, I haven't been sewing in that alcove, but I signed up for an online watercolor class during the pandemic and have used the new chair and that space quite a bit. Unfortunately, I'm cut off from it temporarily because it's not heated and when I tried to use an electric heater I discovered the wall outlet was faulty. My son tried to replace it for me, only to find the ground wire hadn't been connected to it. I consulted with the helpful guys at the Electrical Wiring forum, and on their advice ordered an outlet tester. So I hope to be back using the alcove soon. I'm also happy with the lamp I linked. I like it so much that I bought a black floor lamp by the same manufacturer, for the piano.