Can't Catch Me Gingerbread Socks

A couple inches into the cuff, it became extremely obvious I was working on coordinating, rather than matching, socks. I knit these at the same time, using the same number of stitches, and yarn from the same dye lot. It occurred to me, I may have wound the yarn from opposite ends of the hank. Hmm.... shouldn't the color repeats be the same length regardless and appear, well, in opposite order if that were the case??? 

And, wait.
       
     Do they? 
           
           Why, yes. 

They start to match up almost identically after the gusset, despite no difference in increase/decrease rates between the two.

I don't have a clue why these turned out drastically different from each other. And, I guess it doesn't matter. They're both equally warm and cozy. It's highly unlikely the typical observer is going to notice the disparity. BUT, I do have two more hanks of this yarn, and I'd likely attempt to avoid a repeat situation if I could figure out the "whys" of what went wrong.  


Appearance aside, these fit gloriously! I used German Twist Cast-On, which is my new MOST FAVORITEST cast-on for cuff-down socks, because it's extra stretchy and leaves a very inconspicuous edge. 

Pattern: Sugar Maple from 2-at-a-time Socks, by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

Yarn: 2 hanks Knitpicks Imagination Sock in Gingerbread House


Needles: Addi Lace 1.5 US