The knit up the stash conspiracy...

Have you ever noticed that when you are knitting from stash wool, inevitably, you get to the last 4 rows of the pattern, and ...
you don't have enough wool.

You are reduced to cannibalizing swatch, and then digging in the amazing stash to find that no, you really don't have enough wool the right colour to finish the last 4 rows at the shoulders of your conservatively cabled pink sweater. You have 12 other colours/weights/varieties of pink that do not go, and many other balls in colours that will simply not do without re knitting a significant portion of your sweater. So, you break down and go purchase another ball (a Pounder, no less) to finish that last 6 rows or so of your sweater. You have knit a significant portion of your stash.

But it is getting BIGGER!

Is anyone else out there finding this?

Besides me?

This has happened on the last 4 sweaters I have knit:
The pink cabled wonder, made of Bernet Pounder (love it, needed another ball of Pounder to finish the last 8 rows, and the button band, even after cannibalizing the swatch);
The green pullover (ripped out the swatch, knit it in and was still short that last 4 rows; luckily was able to find a hidden ball languishing; it is another pounder sweater);
Purple eyelets from Kids, Kids, Kids (last 4 rows are in a different wool, in a different colour; yarn is NO longer available, too bad, so sad....but at least the sweater looks pretty with a darker contrast, and I didn't buy anything);
The sweater for my MIL, at Christmas (purchased 2 new balls to finish; needed only 3/4 of one. Now, of course, I have enough to start a sweater with the leftovers from hers, but I will need to go and buy more wool if I want to finish it).

I got lucky with my burgundy sweater. After I cannibalized the swatch to finish the neckline, I had exactly 19 inches of wool left. This burgundy sweater is a reincarnation of a cream sweater that I made from Wendy Knits. There is no more of that wool to be found anywhere. I love the new sweater. It fits me. It doesn't hang off my body like it belonged to my much larger husband, or would fit us both together. My SIL looks great in the original sweater. Obviously, I (being a mere 5'1", and having lost 10 or so pounds going to the gym regularly) had delusions of grandeur when I was making that sweater. The pattern worked fine, my tension was fine. But, it is a fact that my SIL is 5'10, and statuesque, and, like I said, she looks great in my cream coloured sweater.