Using the pattern as a general guideline.
I am using thinner yarn and will create a button band.
Choosing a length right between long and hip length.

The planning:
MONDAY MUSINGS
I have two of these monster sized cakes of yarn.
I fell in love with this yarn and especially the color ( antique rose) when I was looking for yarn for the test knit I did for Helen Kennedy last fall . Waveform sweater (https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Strickliese/waveform-swe...).
I finally treated myself to the yarn during the last LYS sales.
My vision: A slightly oversized thigh length cardigan ( with or without buttons) with pockets. I want to keep the design simple, but not boring, the fabric loose, but still with some structure. Kind of like the two cardigans I took in for visible mending.
Possibly top down and possibly dropped shoulders.
I should probably just make it up as I go, maybe with the help of Ann Budd’s books “Top down sweaters” or “ Book of sweater patterns”. After all, that’s how I started knitting sweaters while in high school, without a pattern , just to my measurements.
I do like my Tealeaf sweater a lot and could knit a simplified version of that https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Strickliese/tealeaf-sweater
I did find something like I envision, but after reading some of the comments, I am a bit doubtful. The long weekend : https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/long-weekend-car...
More I think about it, the more I stress out.

Starting: start as for the sweatshirt , provisional cast on 111 sts. I am deliberately knitting on a needle larger than the size suggested for this yarn to get a light and airy fabric with good drape for a summer cardigan.

The yarn is so much fun to work with. Before I knew it I had the back done to the armhole in just a day.
That means I have to make a decision on the collar and button bands: Do I want to attach while I knit ( as in the vest) or pick up sts later ( as in the Tealeaf cardigan).

TAKE 2: Frogged the small beginnings.
Body: I cast on 103 sts as before on US#7 needles at a gauge of 19 sts per 4 inches.
Knitted to 6 inches then worked the left and right fronts increasing every RS row until I have 46 stitches, leaving space for a button band of about 2 1/2 inches.
After fronts are the same length from top of shoulder, I join with the back and knit back and forth in stockinette stitch until I reach 10 inches measured from underarm.
Then I work the bottom 5 inches in the Hopsack stitch which I just used in a sweater I knitted for our son ( pattern: Finsbury Park sweater), incorporating pockets, then five rows of ribbing ( ktbl, p).
Knitted the pocket lining and 3-needle-joined just before doing the ribbing.
So far so good

Button band and shawl collar:
Calculated that in my gauge, I will have to pick up one stitch for every three rows, then skip one row etc.

When picking up sts I used Suzanne Bryant’s method of avoiding underarm holes; in this case between the picked up sts and the life sts across the back of the neck.

May have to tweak a little to achieve symmetry. All worked out well with minimal tweaking.

Also will need to determine how many buttons to place; I have the nicest shell buttons which were gifted to me some time ago.
When binding off , I am considering an I-cord bind off to avoid rolling.
Five buttons look better than four.. I will place buttons every 20 rows, starting on row 6.
The 1- stitch buttonhole is a bit tight, the 3-stitches buttonhole looks best, but is so loose, that I think buttons will just slip out. Ergo, a 2-stitch buttonhole it is.
6.30. Doing a short row shawl collar shaping in the row before the last row, then I-cord bind off over the button band stitches and a stretchy bind off over the shawl collar stitches. All knitted in pattern with the st st rows reversed in the short row section so the pattern shows when the collar is flipped. Dreaming this up by myself.
It looks like it is coming along nicely although I could think of s few improvements here and there for more fluency.

7.19. Finished and I love it. A new favorite cardigan to cozy up in.