Hi Torsten,

This may help: http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4549.1
though only academically.

The way you're doing it will cause the pattern to pinch near the poles.

My big suggestion is to avoid the pole areas with and objects (degenerate points/sides). The Flow command has difficulty in those areas.

If you are able to wrap the pattern in the majority of the surface area, you can always use other methods to complete the remaining area.