I always like to do an early run down to Vamos - green shades are so easy to come by, you can have a +5 fire weapon in no time, which is pretty OP really right at the very start of the game. The ghosts in New Londo are weak to fire, so it helps in doing that area early too, for the v.large ember, drops, chunks etc to get an early +15 main weapon.
I usually get the large flame ember after doing Quelaag too, which gives you a +6-8 fire weapon (if you got the drops and chunks from Great Hollow and Asylum Black Knights) for Sen's which is enough to one-hit ripost the enemies there.
Looks like you have some exploring to do!