I did it for the first time a couple of years ago.
To begin with, I found it a bit fiddly, but by the time I had finished the small motif I was darning, I was an expert at it, and would now chose that method over knitting the pattern in many cases.
In fact, I am just starting a garment right now for my little dgd, and am replacing a cabled panel with a stocking stitch one onto which I plan to darn a pattern or some flowers once it's finished.
If you have an old stocking stitch garment, perhaps you could practice on that first, or knit a small swatch to try it on?