you don't have to be the rank they suggest in the brady guide... it's actually not a very helpful guide for levels in crafting. you can do things that are "above your level", you just have to pay for the support.
i don't have a complete guide or anything but i suggest making the poison dust in a level or two. first try raising your level a bit by making silencing potions. its tedious to kill mandras for the 2-leaf buds, but at least they're free

(go to saru and take the other ingredients with you)
after that, just go buy stacks of yellow globes and get the imaging support and sit there and craft poison dust.
after that stops raising your level, move onto mercury, then you can combine the two to make poison potions. i think after that i made some kodoku which sells back to the shops for a decent amount.
that should get you up to about lv 18 or so... good luck.