A Failed Sock Story

OK, finished the first Pretty Comfy sock and it is an utter failure. Replaced the short-row heel with a Dutch heel, knitted to the length of my foot, shaped the toe with 2 sets of double dec every other row, grafted the end -- too short!! Undid the graft and frogged the toe to the sole and instep, knitted an additional inch, redid toe -- STILL TOO SHORT!! What's more, it's too short for my daughters who have smaller feet, even for the one who wears a size 5.5M. Good thing I bought 3 skeins of the FdC 501 in each color (it took less than a skein for the sock). Rethinking the sock and studying it, I've learned a couple of things. Such as the Dutch heel doesn't fit any of us well (short-row heels were a bit too short too when I worked them on other socks) and doesn't look so nice; the heel flap needs to be longer than 2 1/4"; I should carry the lace pattern down to the toe to make it a bit stretchier. With these observations in mind, I've started another sock and I'm almost done with the leg and cuff. I'll pick another heel, maybe a French heel since that came out so well on the CTH Java socks. And I want to do a non-grafted toe, like a German round toe or something.
Need more sock help big-time so I turned to Monty the Knitting Moose from Montana for guidance. Hope he arrives soon because my next sock project will be THIS.
Are they gorgeous or what? Perfect for clogs (my preferred footwear) with a cute little pattern for a heel flap. I have FdC 501 in eau de Nil green and lilac; which should I choose? Cookiea has written some really nice sock patterns for Knitty like Baudelaire and others; finally she's launched a website for her newest designs. I want to make them all, but one at a time (LOL!). I'll be tweaking the pattern for the FdC; she writes for fingering-weight yarn and FdC 501 is DK weight. Swatching time!