Throwing dagger on a rope or chain.

[BrickBronze_E-Genasi]

I was working on making a throwing knife specialist that has his throwing knife(knives) either chained or tied to his arm or something so he can pull it back as a standard or maybe a full round action and don't quite know if there would be any penalty to the attack or if doing such a thing is even possible

 

[HRSegovia]

Unfortunately, a rope/chain/string/etc would affect the way the dagger flies. It would be counterproductive. There are magic items (such as weapons of returning) that do this. Or you can create an Artificer which all thrown weapons are automatically returned...

Looking back, perhaps Artificer would be the best rout for what you're trying to create. Dancing Weapon is awesome.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Or just use the Bloodstorm Blade prestige class in Tome of Battle... Whisperknife in Races of the Wild sort of works, too, but not as well and pigeonholes you into a specific style and race (halfling).

EDIT: Another option is a lesser crystal of return (Magic Item Compendium). You attach it to the weapon and as a move action you can call it to your hand from up to 30 ft away. It also lets you draw the weapon as a free action. It costs ~1000 gp I think, and you need to attach it to a weapon with at least a +1 enhancement bonus.

Another option are other items in MIC. The Manticore Array set has gauntlets of endless javelins that...work just as it sounds like. There's also Blade gauntlets to spawn daggers, but you can only use those once/round.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

I believe you are talking about the manriki-gusari - or a close variation thereof.