Some stitch selections have been inexplicably graying out on my 830 lately. I was never able to find out why.
It happened recently when I was using different stitches for crazy quilting. I was using the 9mm stitch plate and the presser foot the 830 recommended for each stitch.
A few days ago, I was having a different problem, so I went into the setup menu and reset the settings, just to clear everything out, and then turned it off and on again. (page 44 of the manual).
I just checked for grayed out stitch patterns. I have the 0 mm stitch plate on. I put on the 1C, 8D and 97D, and told the machine which one I was using. I selected different stitches, including those sideways stitches. None of my stitch choices are grayed out.
However, because I first told the 830 which foot and stitch plate I have on, the 830 won't sew anything but a straight line - which is a great security feature I appreciate.
Sometimes when my 830 is acting up, I can correct the problem by turning it off, waiting a minute for all those little electrons to settle down, and turning it on again - like what you would do when your laptop computer freezes up. But I don't think that solved my grayed out stitches problem. I think resetting the settings and being careful, like Lorna says, to remember to tell it which foot and plate you have on, may be the key.
Let us know how it goes.
Judy