I think I cast on 10 extra stitches. I did the yarnover buttonholes but cut the number of holes in half or so: on the long sides, I only placed them in the middle of every lace section, and on the short ends, I did a YO every 5-6 stitches or so on the “buttonhole” end, and none on the end where I attached the buttons. I’m really happy with it this way; it’s not crazy full of buttonholes competing with the lace, but it also has enough that it can be connected to itself in all sorts of ways.

In doing this, I noticed that unless you are really wearing it more as a garment -- that is, across your shoulders, all spread out -- the buttonholes on the long ends don’t need to line up that accurately with the buttons, so you can fudge the distance between buttonholes.

I love this pattern; it’s definitely going to be a go-to one for me. It’s so easy, the results are so gorgeous, and it seems like it’s really flexible in that you could use almost any size yarn and/or vary the needle size so the results are anywhere from fairly tight to super-lacy.