The first "new" needle may have been just fine when I put it in, but what I think happened is that I had not quite fine tuned the hook system enough such that the first needle was slightly bent in the process, and I think on the upswing it was rubbing against the hook itself, or just past the hook, and breaking the thread. I truly was staring at it for hours before Iceblossom's needle replacement idea hit me, and then it worked, after I had sufficiently adjusted the hook system. What I think I learned, in part, was that the tolerances for the needle by the hook are fairly tight, and even a slight bend or twist in something is enough to impede the stitch.