diff --git a/metrics/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go b/metrics/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
index bf4723b..e1106a4 100644
--- a/metrics/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
+++ b/metrics/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 import (
 	"sync"
 
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log"
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/metrics"
@@ -15,11 +18,10 @@
 	prefix   string
 	svc      *cloudwatch.CloudWatch
 	counters map[string]*Counter
-	//gauges     map[string]*Gauge
-	//histograms map[string]*Histogram
-	logger log.Logger
+	logger   log.Logger
 }
 
+// New ...
 func New(prefix string, logger log.Logger, svc *cloudwatch.CloudWatch) *CloudWatch {
 	return &CloudWatch{
 		prefix:   prefix,
@@ -30,24 +32,51 @@
 }
 
 func (cw *CloudWatch) NewCounter(name string) *Counter {
-	c := NewCounter(cw.prefix, name)
+	c := NewCounter(name)
 	cw.mtx.Lock()
 	cw.counters[cw.prefix+name] = c
 	cw.mtx.Unlock()
 	return c
 }
 
-// Counter is a Graphite counter metric.
+// WriteLoop is a helper method that invokes WriteTo to the passed writer every
+// time the passed channel fires. This method blocks until the channel is
+// closed, so clients probably want to run it in its own goroutine. For typical
+// usage, create a time.Ticker and pass its C channel to this method.
+func (cw *CloudWatch) WriteLoop(c <-chan time.Time) {
+	for range c {
+		cw.mtx.RLock()
+		defer cw.mtx.RUnlock()
+		now := time.Now()
+
+		for name, c := range cw.counters {
+			_, err := cw.svc.PutMetricData(&cloudwatch.PutMetricDataInput{
+				Namespace: aws.String(cw.prefix),
+				MetricData: []*cloudwatch.MetricDatum{
+					{
+						MetricName: aws.String(name),
+						Dimensions: makeDimensions(c.c.LabelValues()...),
+						Value:      aws.Float64(c.c.Value()),
+						Timestamp:  aws.Time(now),
+					},
+				},
+			})
+			if err != nil {
+				cw.logger.Log("during", "WriteLoop", "err", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Counter is a CloudWatch counter metric.
 type Counter struct {
-	namespace string
-	c         *generic.Counter
+	c *generic.Counter
 }
 
 // NewCounter returns a new usable counter metric.
-func NewCounter(namespace, name string) *Counter {
+func NewCounter(name string) *Counter {
 	return &Counter{
-		namespace: namespace,
-		c:         generic.NewCounter(name),
+		c: generic.NewCounter(name),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -60,3 +89,14 @@
 func (c *Counter) Add(delta float64) {
 	c.c.Add(delta)
 }
+
+func makeDimensions(labelValues ...string) []*cloudwatch.Dimension {
+	dimensions := make([]*cloudwatch.Dimension, len(labelValues)/2)
+	for i, j := 0, 0; i < len(labelValues); i, j := i+2, j+1 {
+		dimensions[j] = &cloudwatch.Dimension{
+			Name:  aws.String(labelValues[i]),
+			Value: aws.String(labelValues[i+1]),
+		}
+	}
+	return dimensions
+}