A knife.
You use 'a' for words that start with a consonant sound. Yes, the 'k' is silent but the following letter, 'n', still has a consonant sound. So you use 'a.' Notice now I say 'consonant sound' and not just consonant. For example you say 'an hour' because the 'h' is silent. And you say things like 'a university' because although it starts with a vowel, it doesn't start with a vowel sound.