I love my handknit socks! And, I've sort of converted my mom to the idea of them, too. Which means more knitting fun time for me, which also means more TV-watching fun time for me, minus the being-unproductive-and-lazy guilt sometimes associated with TV-watching fun time.

I think I may be overjustifying myself to... myself.

Have you seen the hat heel (http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/PATThatheel.php)? I haven't tried it, mostly because my feet are fairly well suited for the heel flap and/or short-row heel, but the construction looks kind of awesome.