You let it appear so easy!!! And you are right the stripes transform the heel into a design element. (The open heel hole however looks like a vivisected sock-frog :-DDD) But I am still too afraid to cross over to the sock-side .....for example: as I knit combination style, knitting in the round means changing back to knitting convential and this hurts my fingers faster than the combination style, and I am convinced I only will knit one sock and then I will be to lazy to go on and I dream of lace socks, which are perhaps the most complicated thing possible.... like this pair for example
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/zing-in-your-step-socks
Are you on ravelry by the way?