Toddler poncho, help with using a different kind of yarn

I tried, oh I tried, to make the toddler poncho in the homespun yarn. I nearly went insane and gave up knitting as I’m new to knitting… thought that was my problem but it turns out homespun can just be a pain. ANY WAY… my point, I do have one… I got some worsted weight caron simply soft yarn tonight. I do really well with worsted weight yarn and I like the feel of the caron.

The original pattern says to cast on 32 stitches–so do I still do that? Or, with using a different yarn, should I do something different?

Should I hold 2 strands together to get a more bulky finished project?

The Homespun is bulky, so if you do the same pattern with the worsted, it will be much smaller.

If you want, you can check here for a pattern in worsted weight.