The Ant Track lace stitch creates a wandering line of eyelets that resembles the path of a tiny ant making its way across the fabric. The lace is lovely as all-over patterning, as shown here, in shawls, scarves, cowls, and other lightweight accessories. However, it also works as a 6-stitch decorative panel. In this example, I have worked the pattern in acrylic yarn, the swatch has not been blocked. The patterning will pop a lot more if you do block your project.
This stitch pattern is worked as a multiple of 4 stitches + 2, and in an four-row repeat. Please note that I’ve added 2 edge stitches in garter stitch on both sides of the swatch.
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, in the color Tea Rose.
Needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.
Stitches used
- k – knit
- p – purl
- k2tog – knit 2 stitches together
- RS / WS – right side / wrong side
- yo – yarn over
- rep – repeat
- st(s) – stitch(es)
Ant track lace stitch
Row 1 (RS): P2, *yo, k2tog, p2*; rep *–* to end. (6 sts)
Row 2 (WS): *K2, p2*; rep *-* to 2 sts before end, k2.
Row 3: P2, *k2tog, yo, p2*; rep *-* to end.
Row 4: *K2, p2*; rep *-* to 2 sts before end, k2.
Repeat rows 1-4 for pattern until desired length.
In the below pictures, you see the patterning first from the right, and then also from the wrong side of the fabric:
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