Stephanie Spear 
In 2002, Kelly Schnapp tried knitting for the first time. Facing a 20-hour overseas flight, in the pre-WiFi days, her mother gave her an instruction pamphlet, some yarn, and two knitting needles. Thousands of feet in the air, Kelly took her first stitches. Over the years, Kelly’s knitting hobby waxed and waned, until 2023 when Kelly doubled down on her hobby. With the opening of her shop, Entangled Yarn Shop at 103 Rowell Court in Falls Church, Kelly has created an offline gathering space for knitters, crocheters, and other fiber artisans of all skill levels. Read on for more about Kelly and Entangled.
About Kelly
Kelly Schnapp is a Coast Guard veteran and a former EPA employee. “I joined the Coast Guard in 2000. I was a reservist at first and activated year after year after the 9-11 attacks. I left active duty in 2011 and went back into the reserves. I left completely in 2018,” she said. Several years ago, Kelly lived in Minnesota, where local yarn shops were plentiful, and patterns were still something you picked up in person. After that fateful flight, she knit constantly – knitting, felting, working with fiber. “I made a lot of mistakes,” she said. “It was a lot of making mistakes and trying again.”
She liked the welcoming atmosphere and tactile element of visiting the yarn shops. “You can really only tell the color of a yarn so much over the screen,” she said. Her hobby carried her through difficult periods of life. “It got me through some really hard times,” she says.
Then came a long break. For 10 to 15 years, knitting faded into the background. Kelly’s first marriage ended, and she moved to Northern Virginia in 2011 when she left active duty, moving from her duty station in New Orleans. In the intervening years, she met her now-husband, who was stationed in Northern Virginia with the Air Force. It wasn’t until 2023, when a pop-up ad for Expression Fiber Arts appeared on her screen, that the pull returned. “It felt right,” she says. Knitting slowly became part of her evenings again: sitting with her dogs, a glass of wine nearby, her husband playing guitar nearby in their Falls Church home.
Road to the Shop
At the beginning of 2025, Kelly reflected on what knitting had done for her. “It gets you off your phone. You’re working with your hands. It’s so relaxing and peaceful,” she says. She began looking for a local yarn shop where she could knit with others and shop in person. She wanted to feel the yarn, see the colors accurately, and be part of a community. There are other yarn shops in the area, but Kelly felt that they were too far away for regular visits. “I kept thinking, I can’t be the only one who feels this way,” she said.
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Kelly looked into hosting some pop-up retail events with knitting supplies at a few local vineyards and restaurants. Summer 2025 was a test run for what would eventually become Entangled. “I thought I would do two or three pop-up events and see what happened,” she said. It ended up being six events, and Kelly was pleasantly surprised at the reception she was getting from the community. “We sold out!” she said.
By now, a brick-and-mortar location seemed more realistic. “I thought it would be maybe one or two years away,” Kelly said. But a local realtor quickly connected her with the space that is now home to Entangled. She signed the lease on August 1st, 2025, and then began to gather the inventory. Kelly sourced from independent yarn dyers she had met along the way, including CMS Supply, which dyed much of her first batch. Expression Fiber Arts, which didn’t offer wholesale at the time, made an exception – Entangled became the first shop they wholesaled to. Other dyers followed through word-of-mouth recommendations, revealing the many small niches within the fiber world.
Entangled
The store’s grand opening was September 6th, 2025. The space is warm and inviting. “A little boy asked if this was my home,” Kelly said. “Which was so flattering, because that’s the welcoming atmosphere I want the store to have.”
Kelly said that the store quickly became more than its retail offerings. “People were asking for a newsletter, they wanted to teach classes, everything,” she said. While classes and workshops were always a part of Kelly’s vision for the space, she began offering more tailored experiences.
A workshop at Entangled. Photo courtesy of Kelly Schnapp.
She implemented a scheduling platform – originally designed for hair salons – that allows instructors to post their own classes and availability. Customers can sign up for group classes, one-on-one sessions, or even short 30-minute “help me fix this” appointments. The offerings range from super-beginner knitting and crochet to guided stitch-alongs and open stitching sessions. Many beginners start with a one-hour lesson before deciding whether to commit to more.
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Kelly has seen people in their 90s walk in, amazed to experience something they hadn’t felt in years, or ever. She’s watched strangers become friends through shared projects and quiet conversation. “There are so many online knitting communities,” she says. “But people want to help each other in person. They want to be together.”
“I really believe in the analog aspect of mental wellness,” she says. “Whether there’s an official study or not doesn’t matter. I see the impact every single day. There’s not a replacement for picking the yarn out, working on a project, and bringing it in when you’re done.”
Entangled is located at 103 Rowell Court in Falls Church and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11AM to 6PM and Sunday from 12PM to 4PM. Follow along on its website and social media.
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