Socks: How do you knit yours?

A few weeks ago, my current knitting project (a jumper, you can see a sneak peak here) reached the stage where it was too big to be carried around in the little bag I use to transport knitting when I am on the go. It was therefore relegated to "home knitting", a fate which inevitably, sadly, means that progress on this particular project will now be much slower. I was therefore left with the dilemma of which new project to replace this with. In my wisdom, I decided that it was time to have a go at knitting socks. I've knitted snoods before...surely a sock is basically just a miniature snood with some shaping round the foot, right? Simples.

Oh how wrong I was. First, I naively assumed that I could knit a sock with a single circular needle (a la a mini snood). Apparently, this is not the case. After a bit of research, I purchased some double pointed needles and merrily cast on for sock number one.

Oh the minefield of the unfamiliar!! There seems to be a multitude of different things that can go wrong when knitting a sock...and bear in mind that I am currently about 15 rows in, and haven't even attempted any form of shaping yet. The set up of the double pointed needles seems to resemble some kind of knitting torture device (something I'm sure the many people who swiftly rejected the empty seat next to me on the train this evening on noticing the strange contraption I was wielding will agree with!). After a few tens of rows I seem to be slowly getting the hang of it. However, fellow sock knitters out there, I need your help. I have questions!

1) Firstly, I seem to be knitting my sock inside out. That is, the wrong side is facing outwards. I turned it so that now the wrong side faces in and the knitted tube is growing towards me, but this feels wrong. Is this normal?! And if not, what on earth am I doing wrong?

2) Secondly, I seem to have very obvious gaps at the join of each needle of stitches. I have tried knitting the first stitch of each section as tight as possible, but I still seem to have a very obvious join. I've tried to show a picture of this below but it isn't as obvious in the photo! Will this disappear as the sock grows, or is there a way I can avoid this?

3) The heel....oh my goodness the heel. I am terrified of this even at the early stage, as the instructions seem to make no sense. Can anyone recommend any good tutorials that can demystify this process for me?!

Thanks in advance sock knitters!!! Any other hints and tips for a sock knitting novice are greatly appreciated. Other than these slight issues, I am quite enjoying the way my sock is knitting up. I am using self striping wool, so it is quite fun seeing the pattern emerge. I will conquer this sock!!!

If you haven't done so already, don't forget to enter my giveaway! Three lovely patterns are up for grabs...pop over and have a little look and pick your favourite!

K xx