Wizard of Draws wrote:

Craft is not exactly correct since I got the transponder code first. It was
a monkey wrench that I didn't really expect since I normally get clearance
on the ground in CRAFT order. It's been quite a while since I opened a plan
in the air and 3 months since I've flown at all. A lot of rust to work off.

I think you didn't get the information in CRAFT order because you were not being
issued a clearance, just a VFR squawk.