I have read a lot of posts about people giving up on crocheted socks. First who ever like the first any kind of item them made? So if you have done only one pair and did not like them, I say try again. Crochet socks are a little trial and error but a lot of crochet projects are.
I really like the ultimate sock pattern. Although it did take more than one attempt and I did make the following changes to my sock come out right. I increase stitches until I have 44 stitches then do not do the increase for the heel gusset. I crochet the foot until I am 2 and 1/2 inches short of the total foot length. The toe for this pattern is standard for any toe up sock and the heel is the best I have seen. I usually adapt other patterns to this toe up method and use the heel from this pattern.

Second, the Crochet Socks! book has some great stitch patterns. Personally, I do not like the standard esc stitch, it's too big and too uniform and not very comfortable. One of the patterns in this book call for alternating sc and dc every other stitch, in the next row all sc then in the next row alternate dc and sc stitches then another row of sc. By surrounding a dc with scs you create stretch in the pattern that crochet usually does not have. Another pattern in this book uses sc chain 1 sc every other stitch (skipping 1 stitch in between) and in the next row sc in the scs skipping the chain ones. This also creates stretch. But I do not follow the full sock instructions as I stated above I prefer toe up socks with the ultimate sock heel.

Lastly, use sock yarn and small stitches. Unless you are doing cables or alternating dcs with another stitch, use small stitches. The smaller the stitch the more comfortable the sock. I think a lot of crocheters are into speed projects. Keep in mind knitting a pair of socks can take 20 hours. My average for crochet is 8-10 hours a pair. So this is half as much time as a knit pair but may seem a lot of time for a small project when crochet projects are usually quick.

So that's my two bits. I hope it helps someone.
Jess