Wacky Windmill Sock

I decided to take break from the sweater and work on a sock.
The yarn is a gift from The Wacky Windmill (TWW Crazy Sock in Find a Penny colorway). I'm following the pattern for the Seeded Rib Socks on page 88 of Getting Started Knitting Socks.
Yes, I am shamelessly using this venue to promote my own book.
I've just finished picking up stitches for the gusset and have made four deviations from the printed pattern:
1. Because I'm getting a gauge of about 8 stitches/inch (instead of the 6 stitches/inch specified), I'm following the stitch counts for the second-to-largest size (CO 72 sts) to end up with socks that will be about 8 1/2" in circumference.
2. I used one size larger needles (3.0 mm) for the cast on and upper half of the leg, then changed to size 2.75 mm needles for the rest of the sock. I placed a marker in the leg on the row where I changed needle sizes.
3. I worked the heel flap in the Reversed Slip 1, Knit 1 pattern (see page 27), in which the yarn is held to the front as every other stitch is slipped. This produces more of a woven texture than the standard thickly ribbed texture.
4: To balance the seeded rib pattern on the heel (and therefore on the instep as well), I worked the first row under the Heel heading by knitting 17 stitches (instead of the 18 instructed). I turned the work, then purled 36 stitches as instructed and worked the rest of the heel as instructed.
Here's what I've got so far: