Set Custom UserControl Variables When Its In A Repeater?

<%@ Register Src="~/Controls/PressFileDownload.ascx" TagName="pfd" TagPrefix="uc1" %>
<asp:Repeater id="Repeater1" runat="Server" OnItemDataBound="RPTLayer_OnItemDataBound">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="LBLHeader" Runat="server" Visible="false"></asp:Label>
<asp:Image ID="IMGThumb" Runat="server" Visible="false"></asp:Image>
<asp:Label ID="LBLBody" Runat="server" class="layerBody"></asp:Label>
<uc1:pfd ID="pfd1" runat="server" ShowContainerName="false" ParentContentTypeId="55" />
<asp:Literal ID="litLayerLinks" runat="server"></asp:Literal>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Label lbl;
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Literal lit;
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Image img;
System.Web.UI.WebControls.HyperLink hl;
System.Web.UI.UserControl uc;

I need to set the ParentItemID variable for the uc1:pdf listed inside the repeater.
I thought I should be able to find uc by looking in the e.Item and then setting it somehow. I think this is the part where I'm missing something.

uc = (UserControl)e.Item.FindControl("pfd1");
if (uc != null) { uc.Attributes["ParentItemID"] = i.ItemID.ToString(); }

Also tried this with similar results... when I debug inside my usercontrol (pfd1) the parameters I am trying to set have not been set.

uc = (UserControl)e.Item.FindControl("pfd1");
if (uc != null)
{
uc.Attributes.Add("ContainerID", _cid.ToString());
uc.Attributes.Add("ParentItemId", i.ItemID.ToString());
}

UPDATE: It looks like my controls are not connected by a namespace. I've wrapped by the parent control (Layer) and the PressFileDownlad control in a namespace "MyControls". Also updated their Inherits reference on the aspx to read "MyControls.xxxxx". I'm able to type "MyControls.Layer" inside the code on layer.aspx.cs but I'm not able to get "MyControls.PressFileDownload"