when will this phase end?
Dread Maintenance
I have about 1/5 of my hair in dreads currently (a very slow work in progress...) which started started about 5-6 months ago. (I was hesitant to do my whole head at first, so I did only a few to experiment, and then I found when I tried to add more my arms hurt too much and I was too busy... so I never did get around to putting in any more ...until this month). Anyways... so the dreads that I do have that are about 5 months, are doing the same thing you've described. My dreads are about 1/3 inch in thickness and varying. I did try to dread them all the way down to the very tiniest point which always seemed to unravel. So mine didnt quite puff up as much in that bottom part. But they did suddenly get loopy, which on several of them turned into a much thicker lump near the ends of my dreads. They are uniform in thickness UNTIL it gets to the bottom of the dread and then there is a funky mass. The ones that end up like that are also much shorter. It is rather annoying and I hear your frustration. It makes mine look bottom-heavy, lol. This phase is certainly not what I was expecting. I have learned to "let it go" ... and go with the flow... but its a very strange feeling to not be in control of my own hair! 
Oddly, it is teaching me alot about myself and a lesson in patience.
Something I found that does help with the puffy/frizzy "nest" look that occurs. is to occasionally rub a little bit of pure aloe gel between palms and gently palm roll over that area. Or sometimes I do the palm rolling when they are slightly damp. It helped get through the stage, faster. Some days I can only cover my hair with a hat, and other days the dreads look good and I proudly wear them out to show them off, lol. Then the next day they may do some other strange loopiness and look crazy and weird again. Just when ya think they are "behaving" you realize they seem to have a life of their own, haha.
Anyways I think yours look great! and I am so envious of your thick hair (and ability to have so many dreadies!). Its good also to see your timeline because now I know that my twist and rip seems to have taken a normal course. Looking forward to seeing more pics in the future!