Express Lane, Again

Sometimes, like with the Candy Socks I posted earlier this week you pick up your yarn and pattern and everything goes so smoothly that there isn't much to do besides post a picture and say that you made a pair of socks. Most of time time, it isn't quite that easy.

And then there are socks like these. It's my second try at making Express Lane socks. 

Let's start with the positive. The fit like a dream. The stitch pattern shows up well against the yarn. Working with a gradient for the first time was fun, except for one long splice that meant I couldn't tell there was a problem until I wound up with this:

Gradient yarn may not be for me. I don't have the patience or inclination to spend much time reknitting half a sock to fix something like that. I kind of suspect that I'd have better luck (maybe) with higher-end yarn. This stuff is Drops Delight  and it's dirt cheap even before it goes on sale.

I expected it to be about the same quality at the Drops Fabel I've been knitting with lately, but it's definitely different. I didn't find any knots, but there was that sneaky long splice. And there are bits of lighter fiber mixed in with the darker colors, which left me with odd  splotches of color here and there. Some sections of yarn are very loosely spun and it tends to be splitty.

I've got another two skeins of the stuff, so I'll let you know if those are any better.

The next mishap was entirely my own fault. I was tired of fighting the splitty yarn and just wanted to be done...so I forgot that I was supposed to be knitting the pattern on the back of the leg. Three repeats are plain stockinette because by the time I found my mistake I wasn't going back to fix it.

Pattern: Express Lane

Yarn: Drops Delight, Raspberry Cake