Alright yarny people — I need your help.

Last spring I purchased a 100% merino cardigan at a consignment shop (J Crew, if you must know). It had one small hole in it, which I decided was the reason why someone had decided to get rid of a perfectly nice lightweight cardigan in a neutral color. It was low down, on the back and near the side, and I did a half-assed job mending it and it's been fine. 

Until I included it in a load of delicates in the washing machine. After it dried (air-dried flat, of course), I noticed that the holes in this cardigan had multiplied. There are six holes now (including the original, which needs to be fixed again). 

I'm at a loss as to what to do. Since I bought this secondhand, I don't have the spare yarn that came with it, if there was any to begin with. It's a very fine-weight yarn, machine knit and these stitches are TINY. TINY! I'd like to try and mend this properly, since it's the kind of thing that's perfect when you're a little dressed up. But, this task seems a bit daunting, and it's making me think that hunting down some tiny flower patches and ironing them on would be a preferable solution, if a near-total DIY cop-out.

So, yarny people, thoughts? Advice? (Please spare any "you should have handwashed that" etc. Yes, I should have handwashed that. But do you know how much handwashing I had that needed to be done, stat? And do you know how much longer it takes for handwashed things to air-dry than things that were machine washed? I know you do.)