Hey all. I'm starting up again on modeling and began to attempt to model a dagger and have already gotten stuck on a certain area.. The handle. The handle is woven which is proving to be quite difficult for me to actually model (i'm no expert either). I'm trying to achieve as much photo realism out of this as possible, and don't believe it would look all that real if I just kept the handle relatively simple with bump mapping..

Anyway, wanted to start a W.I.P. on what I am doing..If anyone can think of a better way to work this handle, don't hesitate to throw the ideas my way :p

Here is the wireframe of the handle and blade so far.