Happy-Go-Lucky Boot Socks--Making Progress

The weather finally broke here in Colorado and we've enjoyed a couple of days of 70-degree weather. It's perfect for knitting (and sleeping!).
I'm loving Veronik Avery's Happy-Go-Lucky Boot Socks. They are deceptively easy, just what I like in a handknit.
Advantage 1: The ribbing is made up of twisted stitches that form 1/1 cables without need for a cable needle.
Advantage 2: The leg is worked in a slip-stitch pattern in which 4 rows each of two colors are alternated. Instead of stranding yarn, stitches are slipped along the way to form nesting ovals and the illusion of stranded colorwork.
Advantage 3: The slip-stitch pattern gives a lively puckery look to the intentional "slouch" nature of these baggy socks.

For me, the leg went quite quickly, but the heel flap, which is worked in a honeycomb pattern to add reinforcing thickness, took more concentration. The foot knit up quickly, too, because I kept knitting "just 4 more rounds" to see how another band of color would look.

Here's what I did for my socks:

• I tried working with a set of 5 double-pointed needles as specified in the instructions, but I got annoyed by changing needles so often. I quickly changed to 4 needles with the instep stitches all on one needle and the heel/sole stitches divided equally between 2 needles.
• I used Louet Gems Sportweight yarn that I had leftover from Getting Started Knitting Socks. I choose two colors similar in value for the leg and foot and a color that "pops" for the cuff, heel, and toe to get a similar look to Veronik's version, although in a much different colorway.
• I cast-on 4 extra stitches for the cuff (68 instead of 64), because I didn't want the twisted ribs to stretch out as much as the originals.
• Instead of increasing 2 stitches at the end of the cuff, I decreased 2 stitches to come up with the required 66 stitches for the leg pattern. 
• Because the legs are slouchy to begin with, I did not use needles one size larger for the top of the leg--the baggy nature of these socks made that unnecessary.
• My row gauge was a little looser than the originals so I worked fewer pattern repeats for the leg, heel flap, and foot. Because I worked fewer rows in the heel flap, I only picked up 13 stitches for the gussets instead of 15. I decreased down to 60 stitches as indicated by the pattern, which simply means that I worked fewer gusset rounds.

I'm expecting these socks to be perfect house slippers as the temperatures continue to fall over the upcoming months.