Also, when we get to crafting trees, you'll notice that some nodes increase your stats, such as Fortune +2 along the Mineralogy tree. So, increasing my alchemy level will increase Erudition. Your attributes will also increasing every time you level up a corresponding profession. Increasing those stats also improves your success rate when crafting, and increases the likelihood that you'll create higher quality crafts.
As you level up your Social Level-just by crafting and gathering-you'll improve your Crafting Stats automatically and unlock the ability to harvest new resources. Underneath that level is your Crafting Stats, a set of 7 stats that correspond to your crafting and gathering skills. It's the combination of all the experience you've earned by gathering and crafting.
On the right side of that tab you see your Social Level in fairly small font. If you press C and navigate to the third tab from the left you will be on the crafting menu.
