Someone posted to socknitters earlier about "what is a good basic pattern for sockweight yarn?" Well, here is the pattern I use with patterned (e.g., Regia Ringel) or busy variegated sockyarn for "plain socks":

I'm assuming you have some basic knit-knowledge and are comfortable with knitting in the round (on double pointed needles or dpns)

Fillyjonk's sock recipe:
Fits me (I take a size 39 in Birkenstocks, a size 8 to 8.5 American in shoes)
Ingredients: 2, 50 g skeins sockweight yarn
a set of 5, size 1 US double pointed knitting needles.

My gauge on these is about 8 to 9 sts per inch. You may wish to adjust needle size.

Part 1: the leg.

Cast on 64 sts using a stretchy cast on (I prefer the one commonly called "long tail").
Put 16 sts on each of 4 needles and knit with the fifth (I find this is much more comfortable than holding the sts on 3 needles and knitting with a 4th) Knit in rib for 1 1/2 inches or more. You can use k1 p1 rib, or k2 p2 rib (my favorite).
Knit the rest of the leg plain (or continue in rib if you prefer). Knit until the leg part is 6 to 8 inches long, your preference.


Part 2: the heel flap

You will be knitting back and forth. You will only be using two needles here. Put 32 of the sts onto one needle (people typically use the 16 sts on either side of the "tail" left from casting on. Then, you have some choices:


Choice 1: simplest but may not hold up as well and is a little less elegant than others.
Row 1: slip 1 knitwise, knit to end
Row 2: slip 1 knitwise, purl to end


Choice 2: ribby heel stitch:

Row 1: slip 1 knitwise, *k1, slip 1* to end
Row 2: Slip 1 knitwise, purl to end


Choice 3: eye of partridge: my favorite, the most complex, but I think the most elegant:

Row 1: slip 1, k3, *k1 sl1* to last 4 sts, k3, p1
Row 2: slip1, k3, p to last 4 sts, k3, p1
Row 3: slip1, k3, *sl 1, k1* to last 4 sts, k3, p1
Row 4: as for row 2.


Do any one of these until the heel flap is 2 1/2 inches long.


Part 3: turning the heel. You can go to Heels By Number and use any of the turns for "32 sts" (the next-to-last orange column). I am going to give you the basic Dutch heel turn:


Row 1: slip 1, k 20, slip slip knit (that means: slip one st knitwise, slip a second st knitwise, put the needle back through, knit them together. It's functionally the same as knitting 2 together through the back loop). Then turn your work around and work backwards.
Row 2: slip 1, purl 10, purl 2 together, turn your work and work back
Row 3: slip 1, knit 10, slip slip knit (or k 2 tog through the back of the loop if you prefer). Turn and work back.


Repeat rows 2 and 3 until all sts are worked. Now you need to pick up stitches to form the gusset.
(this is basically sticking the needle in a stitch at the edge of the gusset and drawing the "working yarn" through
to form a new loop).

Part 4: the gussets

I generally pick up 18 stitches along each side of the heel flap edges. This gives a fairly good spacing.
You can just pick up one st for every edge st on the flap - so if you made the flap longer or shorter, you can adjust.


Then you need to knit around all these stitches for one round. Then you need to start decreasing at the edges
of the gusset (the end of needle 1 and the start of needle 4).
Knit to within 3 sts of the end of needle 1, k 2 tog, k1. Knit across needles 2 and 3. At the start of needle 4, s1, ssk, then knit to end.

Then knit one round plain.

Knit decrease and plain rounds alternately until you are back to 64 sts (16 per needle). Then just knit knit knit
until the foot is 2 inches shorter than you want it to be. Now you will decrease:


Part 5: the toe (you're nearly done!)

The toe consists of decrease rounds interspersed with rounds of plain knitting. Some knitters like to just alternate dec, knit, dec, knit rounds around - and that works - but I like to use the method put forward in the Socka books:
Decrease round: needle 1: knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. needle 2: k 1, ssk, knit to end. needle 3: knit to last 3 sts, k2 tog, k1. needle 4: k1 ssk, k to end.

So here is the order of decrease and knit rounds I use:

dec, knit, knit, knit, dec, knit, knit, dec, knit, knit, dec, knit, dec, knit, dec, knit, then dec every round until 8 sts remain. Break off the yarn, thread it on a tapestry needle, and pull it tightly through the remaining stitches.

There are other ways to do the toe. I highly recommend Nancy Bush's "Folk Socks" if you are going to get into sockmaking big-time. It's a great book.