I'm sure these recommendations are all very good, but I've never purchased a carving knife.
By all means, purchase one based on the input you've received and your own judgement. Work with it a while and then think about what other blade shapes and handle modifications you'd like. Then, I encourage you to try to make some of your own. I've made several small knives, chisels, etc., from old saw blades. In particular, discarded industrial hacksaw blades are great for this purpose. I make small plane irons from them, too. They can often be scrounged from a metal working shop. You will need a grinder of some sort. David Newton has made a great carving knife, as illustrated in his post. When I made mine, I didn't even bother to anneal and then re-harden and temper the steel. I just ground carefully (so as not to burn the steel), made a long tang on the blade, and epoxied it into a two-piece walnut handle which I made from scraps. In fact, I made a carving knife, a skew chisel, a small straight chisel, an extremely thin bottoming chisel, a marking knife, and three small plane irons in this manner. More than twenty years later, they are all still in service. It's not difficult at all, and it's a lot of fun. And it's extremely satisfying to do work with a tool that you have made with your own hands.
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