Valentine's Socks

Mr Fix-it has been wearing the socks I made him late in 2005 non-stop in the evenings since around November. He has terribly cold feet, and the alpaca socks I made him then have been just the ticket. They sold him on handknit socks, and he has been requesting a new pair since before the first of the year. Sure, he can only wear one pair at a time, but because his first pair was so well-loved he had already worn through the heel of the 100% alpaca yarn. (Note to self: 100% alpaca doesn't hold up well in socks.) I tried to mend the huge hole that had developed in each heel, but to no avail. It was with much sadness that those socks wound up in the trash can. I kept pulling my hand back, thinking that surely there was something I could do with the rest of the sock. If only I had made them with an afterthought heel. I could have pulled out the holey heel and knit in a new one easy-peasy. Alas, at the time I didn't know about the afterthought heel. So the old pair ended as landfill fodder.

The new pair was cast on around December 31st, but was too large. I ripped them out, knit a swatch (what a concept), and started anew. Here they are, finished the morning of St. Valentine's Day. I wish I had taken a photo of them with his card on his dinner plate. As soon as he saw them he pulled them on his feet. He had requested a taller cuff, and because I knit them toe-up I was able to try them on him several times throughout the process to make sure they were 'just right'. Verdict: two thumbs way up! What a relief.

Details:
Yarn: Tongue River Farms Sock Yarn An icelandic yarn (colors: cream, brown, bluish-grey[shown]) that comes in 8 oz skeins ($17.50)--enough for approximately 2 pairs of socks. This pair to fit Mr Fix-it's size 11 feet, with about a 10.5 inch leg took 110 gms. According to my scale, I have 99 gms left. Surely that would be enough to make a pair for me :o)
Needle: Size 3 Addi Turbo 40"
Pattern: strictly plain jane: Toe-up, two at a time on Magic Loop, Turkish cast-on, increased to 58 stitches, stockinette and 3x2 ribbing after decreasing to 55 stitches. Used the short row heel that Abigail developed. I didn't realize until I had already passed the heel that I should have knit in an afterthought rather than a short row so I could replace it if he wears through these too. The blurb on the site says that the heels are very wear resistant, so I'm hoping that these will hold up better.
Thoughts:
The yarn is rather rough at first, but softened even as I worked with it. He hasn't given me a chance to wash them yet, so I'm sure they will soften up even more after that. Other than that, he loves them. 'Nuff said.