I know to always check that the stitch I'm doing is compatible with the foot I have on the machine. Really, I do. For whatever reason I switched from a wide stitch pattern to my stitch in the ditch foot on my Pfaff and started sewing. Smack goes the needle into the plastic of the clear foot! Then the machine froze up. I got that worked out, and knew I needed to change my needle, but the worse news was that it cracked the plastic on the foot and it broke.
Pricey little mistake. The only positive is that my LQS is having a special event night for their best customers (read, spent too much at the store!) in another week and they will have a percentage off for us that night. Figured if I posted this it may make someone else think twice and prevent them from doing the same thing.