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Abstract We describe the application of the lattice covering problem to the placement of templates in a search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1. Efficient placement of templates to cover the parameter space at a given maximum mismatch is an application of the sphere covering problem, for which an implementation is available in the LatticeTiling software library. In the case of Sco X-1, potential correlations, in both the prior uncertainty and the mismatch metric, between the orbital period and orbital phase, lead to complications in the efficient construction of the lattice. We define a shearing coordinate transformation which simultaneously minimizes both of these sources of correlation, and allows us to take advantage of the small prior orbital period uncertainty. The resulting lattices have a factor of about three fewer templates than the corresponding parameter space grids constructed by the prior straightforward method, allowing a more sensitive search at the same computing cost and maximum mismatch.