I love this game also, but I am not blind to the fact that some parts of it need work.
The crafting system in SWTOR is bad. I have seen worse but there are a lot better systems out there.
Now OP, I would start now. Decide what crafting skill you wish to do and then just concentrate on building up mats for that skill. Do like a lot of people do and hold off actually crafting until you hit 50, just gather until then.