What makes for a great knife? Why not ask a chef — or better yet, have one make it for you? Chef-turned-bladesmith Narin MacDonald puts his professional cooking experience to work with each knife he designs, honing details that make his handmade Narin M. Knives the go-to choice of many of his former colleagues and home cooks alike. MacDonald, 39, is a New England Culinary Institute grad who worked at various Vermont restaurants during his 14-year cooking career, including high-end resort Twin Farms in Barnard and Burlington's now-closed Old North End spot Butch + Babe's, where he was the opening chef. His last kitchen gig was at the Great Northern in Burlington; he left the industry in 2019 while dealing with family issues. "I found myself wanting to make things with my hands and use my creativity," MacDonald said. "If you've talked to chefs, you know we've all got a little knife thing going on. How hard would it be to make my own?" To satisfy that curiosity, he watched thousands of knife-making videos on YouTube. "Then I just went for it," he said. Looking back, he said his first attempt, from 2020, was "horrible." By 2021, with more practice, he was getting serious about the endeavor. MacDonald used his years of holding knives in the kitchen to make some design improvements. Instead of 90-degree angles on the spine and the choil — the area at the heel of the knife — he rounds them. Otherwise, the knife digs into the cook's hand and creates blisters. "He's my favorite knife maker," said chef Frank Pace, who co-owns Great Northern Catering and August First in Burlington and was MacDonald's boss in 2019. Pace's team uses four of MacDonald's knives on a daily basis, and both he and August First executive chef Lahi Ibrahim use them at home, he said. When longtime employees leave, Pace gifts them one of MacDonald's knives as a parting present. "Narin was an incredible cook, so when he transitioned to knife making, he knew exactly what needed to work," Pace said. "Once he learned how to refine that — and keep refining it — the knives have just gotten better and better." Now, when MacDonald is not taking care of his young child or cooking for his family, Narin M. Knives is his full-time focus. He works in his Monkton garage, using a gas…