ActionScript 3.0 :: Use A Variable To Set The Color Of Text?

I want to use a variable to set the color of text and graphics input by the user. I use the following code to set the variable:
 
var setColor:String;setColor = "0xff0000";
strokeColorBtn_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, setStrokeColor);
function setStrokeColor(event:MouseEvent):void {    setColor = "0xCCCCCC";    trace ("the new color is " + setColor);}
 
This works, and I am able to use the variable to set the color of type in a text field:

textFormat.color = setColor;
 
But when I try and use the variable to set the color of a graphic element:

designContainer.graphics.beginFill(setColor, 0.1);
 
I get the following error:

1067: Implicit coercion of a value of type String to and unrelated type uint.
 
So I thought that I might have to cast the String as a uint, so I tried the following:
 
designContainer.graphics.beginFill(setColor as uint, 0.1);
 
That eliminated the error message, but it does not change the color.