I like the way you are playing around with the pewter in the handles.
I'm glad you're not ashamed of your experiments. When I was teaching blacksmithing I used to tell my students that I wished I had kept the first thing I made, which was a wall hook. Partly for sentimental reasons, and partly so they wouldn't feel bad about their early efforts.
Two bits of advice:
Draw out a profile of how you want the finished knife to look. Transfer it onto a piece of sheet steel with a sharpie or a white-out pen. Then you can check the form as you go. Doing it freehand is tough. As you note, you seem to be getting somewhere with the components, but you need to think more about the transition between handle and blade, the overall sweep of the thing. Doing some sketches will help.
Buy decent steel. Admiral Steel sells in small quantities online. The cost of a knife is 5% steel, 5% hammering, and 90% finishing and heat treating. After all that labor mystery steel will quite often break your heart. For a few bucks you can know exactly how to heat treat it and you'll get a razor.
I just finished a chef's knife for my father. The form wasn't all it should be, nor the finish, but it is 1085 and the edge makes me want to throw my commercial knives in the trash. It doesn't so much cut an onion as it sort of falls through it. You can do that with the right steel and some patience.
Keep it up, Chapple, and thanks for showing your stuff.
