[sally_in_wales]

you did fab! Pattern is up on Ravelry now if you want to link your project to it

[sally_in_wales]

amazing how delicate a pair of manly size 14s can look isn't it

He is nagging me to make him a Gareth sized pair, but I think I'll need to go up to heavier yarn to get them to scale to that size foot. In the meantime my disembodied plastic legs are doing sterling service as sock models

[sally_in_wales]

It helps if you have done cables before, but I would say if you are confident with a basic sock, and can do cables, then there isnt anything to be fretful about as long as you take your time at first

[sally_in_wales]

I do for the historic ones, and once I work out how best to layout the patterns for printing as well as for email, I probably will do them as hardcopies as well. They are cheaper as pdf's so most people get them that way.

[sally_in_wales]

Yes, thats all laid out by me, but what works well on a home printer might not be quite what I need to print out on glossy card for an off the peg hardcopy, so I need to rejig things a bit to make them work well as an overall pattern range in hardcopy. Some of them will translate ok to me printing them out on suitable cardstock and putting them in aprotective sleeve, but others will need abbreviating or re-spacing to fit the same number of pages.

[gil]

No.

Speaking as a returner to knitting after a long break, here's a non-expert knitter's view....

I taught myself to knit socks back in February, and have knitted 9 pairs, and a single Oakleaf sock in the short version. Most of mine have been knitted using DK yarn, and are fairly plain, as handknit socks go. But I'm quite happy now knitting socks top-down re heels/gussets/toes.

I have also knitted an Aran jumper (with cabling) in the last year, which took me four months. So I am comfortable with cables. I've done cables in the round [Aran beret and a pair of DK socks], which were more 'interesting' and fiddly, because of being in the round.

I've knitted mitts in skinny wool on skinny dpns. That takes getting used to handling (especially after more chunky wools).

Even so, I found the oakleaf socks challenging, in a good way.

But I had to undo, practice and start again twice while I got the hang of the pattern, and there was much incoherent swearing at the beginning. And there were instructions that I didn't know how to do in this context, and had to ask Sally about (like 'm1').

I think it's not so much the individual aspects of the sock that are difficult :
dpns in the round; cabling; following a pattern stitch by stitch; fancy pattern all the way round the leg; skinny (for me) wool; on skinny needles
- it's putting all of them together into a single, small knitted item.

As Sally said, patience is important - with the knitting and with yourself. Not panicking or losing one's temper. Reading and following the pattern, knowing that it will result in the sock as pictured, even if you can't quite imagine how. Being happy to progress stitch by stitch, row by row.

You can practice some of the pattern 'on the flat' before you start the sock, using ordinary needles and bigger wool so you can see what's happening.

They're not really easy socks, but they are perfectly knittable, so don't be put off by what I've said above.
The end result is really satisfying.

And you can always ask for help.

PS - starting that Irish Hiking Scarf would give you plenty of basic cabling practice in a chunkier-weight wool.
Likewise, knitting a plain square about 12sts wide and 10 rows high in 4-ply sock wool using two 2.5mm dpns as though they were ordinary needles will give you the feel of working on that scale. It feels like high-precision stuff.