On page 63, she gives a lovely pattern for use when making a toe-up sock. However, upon attempting to follow her instructions for the toe-up method, I ran into a little problem: these are the least helpful instructions ever written for what might be the most frustrating knitting procedure I’ve yet encountered.
I know how to make socks from the top down, but this 28-round-long pattern is directional, meaning that it would be upside-down if I were to knit it from the top down. Would I be able to work backwards from rnd28 to rnd1 and end up with the same results? The pattern involves a lot of ssk and YO, but I can’t think of a reason why this would make a difference. One never knits on the WS when in the round, so the instructions wouldn’t have to be translated in that way.
I was in the middle of trying it backwards when I completely goofed and decided to ask y’all who might know before I waste any more time on trying.
Have you tried the easy toe that she gives as an alternative to the short row toe?
Yes, and I found the name to be quite ironic 
Who knew you could work humor into a serious book about socks?
Seriously, though, she loses me at the point where you have to distribute the stitches from the provisional cast-on onto the needles. Why do the instructions begin with Needle 4? What, specifically, does “Beg knitting in rnd” mean? Is that one entire round of knit stitches? What determines which needle is first, second, third, fourth? Halfway through the instructions for Needle 1, she sayd “cont with needle 1”… I thought that’s what I was supposed to be doing already!
You know, if you look at the easy toe instructions on page 42, they don’t have that confusing first line (after the unzipping) contained in the easy toe instructions on page 58. When I googled for errata, no corrections for page 58 popped up, but there is a correction for that stitch pattern you like, right here. (Thought you might be interested in that little tidbit.) I still think that the p. 58 easy toe directions must be wrong, though, don’t you?
Anyway, did you look at the round toe on page 61? That one doesn’t look too bad.
I wish I could be more helpful. You might want to seek out Rebecca, the sock-knitting goddess. Or you could go here and find an entirely different toe that you like better.
As for the question about doing the stitch pattern upside-down (which really would be a good way to avoid those pesky toe up toes, wouldn’t it?), I really don’t know. It seems like things might get hairy with those increases and decreases… maybe you can change your subject line so it’s not specific to the book.
Who knew you could work humor into a serious book about socks?