Well I have got my machine going! With use I think she will only get better. Tate I know exactly what part of the machine you are talking about, I oiled that a few days into my adventure with the machine and I see how it would be important to the special stitches since it moves the needle back and forth.
I feel kind of silly, since maybe this is obvious to everyone else: the decorative stitches work best when I put the stitch length selector in the fine area. They work when I go down to larger stitches, but the pattern usually shows up as zig zag in a stretched out way that follows the basic pattern shape. Is this typical of the machines, or something that will change with time and more use?