Flame Wave Socks

The long saga of the Cascade Fixation socks has finally come to a satisfactory conclusion. I bought this yarn a while back at the LYS thinking it was really neat. Cotton yarn with stretch, machine washable, I could make some socks that would be real workhorse socks like those I buy at K-Mart. The first sock I made came out like this. I am sure you can see the problems, but let me enumerate them for you.
1. The short row heel is very poorly done. I am not sure if this was lack of skill or related to problem number
2. The gauge is whacky.
I thought that since the yarn was stretchy, I should knit it tightly enough so that it would stretch when worn. Obviously it should not stretch this much when worn however, becase in addition to the fact that it looks wierd, the individul columns of stitches hurt the bottoms of my feet.
Brief note of explanation. I have an inherited condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome which is a demyelinating problem with the peripheral nerves..it leads in my case to orthopedic problems and six corrective orthopedic surgeries over my lifetime. At this point both of my ankles are fused into that 90 degree position and that is why my feet look so funny. I definitely need sock blockers! (For size 5.5 feet)
Anyway..back to the socks. I bought the Favorite Socks book from Interweave and it had a pattern for these socks using Cascade Fixation, so I decided to try using a pattern written specifically for the yarn. Much better.

The strange thing about the whole project is that the pattern is so subtle and the yarn so textured that you can't always tell easily when you've made a mistake. I made several and didn't correct them all, to be honest I didn't think I would be able to tell later anyway. Lazy knitter I am! So does anyone else have experience with this yarn? Do you machine wash it?
Pattern: Flame Wave Socks by Ann Budd

Size: woman's

Yarn: Cascade Fixation, cream, two balls

Needles: Size 3 Addi-Turbos