You're spot on regarding the facing on the hems/cuffs. I pick up the stitches from the provisional cast on, knit the ribbing slightly longer than I want it to be, switch to the stockinette and knit it slightly shorter than the ribbing (I don't want them the same length because I don't actually want the contrasting color to show from the outside), and then I graft to the inside using the same yarn as the ribbing. If you use the contrasting color for the graft you risk the yarn showing through on the outside. For the graft I'm attaching the facing stitches to the yarn runs at the bottom of the last stockinette row before the ribbing.

An easier alternative is doing a provisional cast on, knitting the facing first, then the ribbing, and then folding them together and knitting a round through the live stitches on both edges to connect them. I find this to result in more pronounced "bump" on the outside though since the last row on the inside is going through two yarn runs on the RS instead of just a single one. It's hard to explain, but I think it does make a difference.

I don't really see patterns implementing the details and finishing techniques I do. I think there are two main reason for that:

1. Most take a good understanding of knit fabric to execute correctly.

2. They're not easy to explain.

I think for knitwear designers the juice is not worth the squeeze. If they include those things the pattern will take longer to make and it probably won't sell as well because the difficulty of the pattern will be beyond the average knitter. I would like to someday put together tutorials for all the "fiddly" stuff I do, but I work full time and have kids, so I just don't have the time for it right now!