OK. So... the socks:

it's a crew-length or ankle sock. make a swatch. use needles that seem too small; you want a firmly knitted fabric, so your socks will last.  This is an ever-evolving kind of how-to set of instructions for making a sock with YOUR needles and YOUR yarn, to fit YOUR foot (or a foot with which you are acquainted..That's YOUR business.)

If you see errors, please tell me, because I keep reading it over to catch them all.  

here's your formula for your cast on: measure your ankle, subtract an inch, and multiply your guage out by that many inches. so, for an average (9") woman's ankle, it's (9-1)x (guage). If my guage is 9 stitches to the inch, then 8" x 9 sts = 72.

ok, so i cast on 72. i used a multiple of 12, so i could do a wide rib, (10x2) if that number won't work with your guage, then choose a different rib. maybe your cast on number is 80; you could adjust the stitch multiple to 10, and use an 8x2 rib, see?

your socks. your decisions.

so here's the cryptic version:

guage: 9 sts/1"
co 72, join the round.
K2, P2 rib for 1". put a marker on the last round, in a stitch. make sure it's a split marker, so you can get it out later, right?

K10, P2 rib for 6". put a marker on the last round.

redistribute your stitches so that your round begins and ends with K5. (this centers your pattern)

HEEL FLAP:

you make your heel flap and turn your heel on 1/2 of your stitches, give or take one to keep the numbers even. That's pretty normal:

row 1: Knit 36. TURN (working flat now, ignoring the other 36 stitches.
2 (and all even rows): sl 1, purl 35.
3 (and all odd rows): sl 1, K1 across.
repeat rows 2-3 until your heel flap is square. finish with a purl row, placing a marker on one of the center 2 stitches as you did in the ribbing above.  If you tend to hate that tight feeling around the instep, this is where you can add a little space in, by making your heel flap a little longer than square.  But beware.  Too much length in the heel flap will give you that sexy elephant-ankle look.

TURN HEEL:

basically:
you knit to 2 stitches past the very center, then you SSK, K1, and turn.
slip 1, and purl back to the same center point, p2tog, p1, and turn.
look. see the little gap that formed at the points where you turned? you will always close that gap with the appropriate decrease, and the work one more and turn. eventually, you will end up at the ends of your needles. after the first row, you always slip the first stitch. end with a KNIT row, and you'll be ready to move on.

with my numbers, this worked out to:
1: K 20, SSK, K1, turn.
2: Sl 1, P5, P2tog, P1, turn.
3: Sl 1, Knit to one stitch before the gap (i hate counting!), SSK, K1, turn.
4: Sl 1, Purl to one stitch before the gap, P2tog, P1, turn.
repeat rows 3 and 4 until you finish the needle at both sides. you may have to omit the extra K1 or P1 at the end of the last set of rows. End with a knitted (right side) row.

GUSSET:
pick up stitches, one per slipped stitch, along the side of the heel flap. Finagle one extra stitch up in the corner, by pulling up the strand between the first stitch on the next needle and the last picked up stitch, just to tighten that join. place a marker here, if it is not the end of a needle. knit across the instep (36 stitches) in pattern. place a marker here, if it is not the end of a needle. pick up the finagle-ey stitch, and then one stitch fo reach slipped stitch on the other side of the heel flap. knit to the middle of the heel. look. be proud.

readjust your stitches so that:

if you are on 2 circs: I would put ALL the gusset stitches and heel stitches on ONE circ, and I would put only the 36 instep stitches on the other circ. it's a little awkward for a few rounds, but it completely eliminates the need for those irritating side markers. and it makes it much easier to count later. (i hate counting, remember?)

if you are on magic loop: I would work in profile, so the work would be divided halfways from center heel to center instep. the markers stay.

if you are using 5 dpns: learn the 2 circs or magic loop. ha just kidding. put the instep on one needle. put each set of gusset stitches on it's own needle. put the turned heel stitches on their own needle. the markers aren't necessary. You'll end up readjusting after the gusset decreases are done.

now: your decreases are worked EVERY OTHER ROUND. If you are an average woman, the ball of your foot will measure about the same as the ankle, so you decrease down to your original cast on number, and then work even for a while to complete the foot.

so, if you are working on 2 circs, or on dpns, then you work to 3 sts before the end of the gusset needle, k2tog, k1, then work in pattern across the instep to the other side. You'll pick up the gusset needle again, k1, ssk, and knit to the center of the heel, where you might have already placed a marker for the beginning of the round. round 2: plain knit, in pattern on the instep. round 3: work the decreases as on round 1. and continue, alternating decrease rounds with plain rounds until you have your original cast on number again (36 sts on each half of the sock, 72 total)

if you are working on magic loop, in profile, then for your decrease rounds, you knit from the center heel (beginning of round) to 3 sts before the marker, k2tog, k1, slip marker, knit the instep in pattern, slip the marker, k1, ssk, knit to the center heel. alternate decrease rounds with plain rounds until you are back down to 72 total stitches (the original cast on number).

FOOT: knit plain, (in pattern on the instep) until you are about 1 1/2 inches shy of the total foot length. (total foot length, you might ask? why yes, from the back of the heel to the end of the longest toe. stand on a ruler up against a baseboard to measure.) you can also just try on the sock (unless you use dpns) and when you hit pinky toe cleavage, it's time to start decreasing. put another split ring marker to mark the end of the last round.

TOE DECREASES: if you are on 2 circs, it's easy. you decrease on the first and last 3 sts of each needle. if you are in profile, you have to place center markers on each needle again, or readjust your stitches so you aren't in profile anymore.

so, if you are on 2 circs, knitting from the side of the sock, it's k1, k2tog, k to the last 3 sts on the needle, ssk, k1, and repeat on the 2nd needle.

if you are on dpns, from the side of the sock, it's needle 1: k1, k2tog, k to end. needle 2: k to the last 3 sts, ssk, k1. needle 3: just like needle 1. needle 4: just like needle 2.

if you are in profile, then from the center of the heel, you knit to 3 sts before the center marker, ssk, k1, slip marker, k1, k2tog, knit around to 3 sts before the next marker, ssk, k1, slip marker, k1, k2tog, knit to the end of the needle (center of heel again)

ok. whew.

round 1 (and all odd rounds) are decrease rounds.

round 2 (and all even rounds) are plain knit.

when you are down to half the total number of stitches (36 total) it's time to eliminate the plain knit rounds. decrease every round until you are down to about 18 or so stitches. then...

you have 2 choices.

you can kitchener the toe closed, which i will post about later (hey, my fingers are tired from all this mad typing!)

or

you can turn the sock inside out, and do a 3 needle bind off. but then you end up with a little seam at the end of your toe. that can be irritating. i vote for the kitchener stitch.

ok. well, i am sure there are typos in here, but i will read it over again tomorrow, and when i find things that need to be fixed, i will edit and fix it. if you have questions, leave a comment and i will answer you.

this material is basically the sock class that i used to teach. there's more. stay tuned.