Callistemon
I think do what you feel comfortable with, merlotgran!
I usually pick up and knit but the last waistcoats I knitted were for the DGC and the pattern said to pick up all the way round on a circular needle. Even with a smaller size it was tricky.
My worst (most wasteful) UFO was a black knitted jacket-type cardi I was making for a sister in the US. Having finished the whole thing except for the pick up and knit ribbed edging, I eventually gave up - there was so much of it, and even with a good light it was so hard to see the blasted stitches.
Luckily it was relatively cheap acrylic yarn - for Dsis it couldn’t be anything that wasn’t both machine washable and tumble-dry-able.