Hi!
Having knit with dpn's on one of my early sock patterns I can fully appreciate that insecure feeling that by the time you get to the stitches on the next needle they will have slipped off into the atmosphere never to be heard from again! Or even that as you're knitting along the stitches you're happily puttiing on your right hand needle are jumping ship at the other end!
I had the same knitting terror when I first used those slippery little double points! Eventually you'll get past that and suddenly find yourself in smooth control of the project when you log in some hours knitting with them.
Meanwhile, if you're really too distracted by it maybe you could slip some point protectors on the ends of a couple of the needles so you're not worrying about loosing the stitches as you knit.
Hope this helps and good luck. Your project sounds like lots of fun. Let us see a pic when you're finished!
Happy knitting,
Ruthie
