I carve some spoons. Now I’m using a Ben Orford crook knife and including shipping from the UK I think I paid about $80-90. But I know a lot of good carvers who can get the same results with a mora hook knife $28 and a mora 106 $22. Those two knives are all you will need for spoons. Remember though that most spoon work as far as roughing out your blank will be done with a razor sharp hatchet. My first hatchet was purchased from a place that sells husqvarna equipment. It was $30, it’s hand forged Swedish tool steel and is a great hatchet. It needed a new grind and then a run through the grits on whetstones. All easily performed though. Do not buy a strop. You can make a strop from any piece of old leather, even a paint stick can be used as a strop with some compound. This is what I use but compound can be found for much less. A belt glued to a piece of 1x pine or a belt laid on the table embedded with some compound will work.

None of these things will help you carve little faces but I just started doing that myself and bought this $17 and it has worked great. I carved these with that knife.

Also get yourself a pair of cut resistant gloves. I don’t wear them for spoons or anything but those little faces. Guys who have been carving for 30 years wear them. Carving those little faces and men demand cuts that would be crazy to do without a glove.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Good luck!