Ok I know I should know this but...... when I down a pot of Alchemy or smithing to increase my smithing or alchemy, and get to the table does time pass when creating a potion or improving armour?

smithing or enchanting. yes time passes. I can comfortably enchant one item with one potion, two if I try hard. Time stops when you are renaming the item. Time passes with smithing, too, but I can upgrade 10 things without problem with just one potion.

There are no potions for buffing alchemy, though. Just like there is no "Fortify Enchantment" enchantment.

Just to be cautious I always use one potion for each item. A great tip I saw on these forums is the Slow Time shout works when crafting.

This always bothers me. The armor enchanting book states there is a set of gauntlets with that bonus. Yet no one has ever found it.