Dear Georgia,
Attached files:
swirl-1.jpg is a motif with 5 swirl joins and
swirl-c.jpg is a close up of the center.
Swirl join is actually a variation of a regular join.
If a pattern asks for joining 3 - 6 rings in one point,
keep tatting until you come to the last ring to be
joined.
Put a crochet hook into a 'join to' picot of the
previous ring in the group, and the one before that,
and the one before that... and pull the loop thread of
the last ring through all those picots to make a swirl
join.
Hope it makes sense.
Nina Libin in New York
http://www.beanile.com