I do the same thing - did one of us steal the idea from the other?

I added a padded handle to mine: I usually carry 30 - 50 feet of cord (the kind MSR uses for its tent guylines) to hang my small food bag, or rig a makeshift clothesline - or even to make guylines for my tent. I thread the cord through the little hole where your index finger is, and tie a knot so it won't come back through. Then I wind the cord around and around and around the handle, about a hand's width down the stake, keeping all the turns pushed snugly against one another. There's enough cord for 3 or 4 passes, which builds up into a nice, comfortable handle for digging. (A real PITA to re-do if you have to unwind it every night, though.)

Even without the handle, it works great!