Argh! Ok, it's great that you don't need to recraft gear when you find something with a smithing bonus... but you do need to re-refine it with a workbench. Figures I find a +smithing item, refine all my dragonbone, and then find another piece. Now I can't find any dragons! This is my sad face
(technically, my frown face).
I also hate my choices for smithing. FYI, if you're not primarily a mage, go the RIGHT path, not the left. I hit 100, got dragonbone, and thought "Oh, I'll just spend my next point in Daedra for the best weapons in the game." No can do, sir. You can't go down from the 100 mark on the other side, apparently; if I want Daedra, I need to sink 3 more perks into smithing. UGH. Can anyone tell me what the best one-handed sword for Daedra is, refined? My Skyforge sword is currently like 55 attack (I know glass would be higher, but I like the enchant on my sword). Need to find out if it's worth it.
Also, alchemy seems to level agonizingly slow. Anyone have some tips for leveling quick? I find I can make cheap health potions with blisterwort + wheat and my +alchemy items, but the vendor in Whiterun only sells a few Blisterwort every few days.