The crafting does seem to need some work, especially around the levels just before you can refine a new material. In the example of Jewelcrafting, 50-75 was really slow, and only ways of exp gain was repetitive crafting of Malachite, Tiger Eye and Pearl accessories but after 75, I was powering through the levels thanks to Silver refinement and Copper Filigrees. 100+ in Jewelcrafting right now, and that's only because I ran out of Silver.