straight knife: everything else in the library
One good sloyd-style straight knife (kept sharp) and cut-resistant gloves are enough for the large majority of projects here: every animal, figure, and chess piece except the two spoons and the chess board.
hook knife: the two spoon projects
A curved hook knife is needed to scoop the bowl of a spoon; a straight knife alone can't reach that concave shape. Not required for anything else currently in the library. Filter by "Gear needed" on the library page to see exactly which projects need one.
v-gouge, wood saw, paint: the chess board
The one flat-work project (the chess board) is the outlier: it needs a wood saw to size the board, a V-gouge to outline the squares, and paint to finish it. No whittling knife involved at all.